The Times Crossword Friday Masterclass: 28 June 2024

[@jimnewman6686]

Wizardry aside, I’m always in awe at how quickly you can unscramble the anagram fodder. Hats off as always Magoo!

[@matttriggs1268]

In Boxing, if you "catch someone with a right hook", say, you've struck them. Similarly, if you've been caught on the head by a cricket ball, you've been struck by the ball.

[@DanielWinsor]

@@matttriggs1268 Exactly. Or in any ball sport where you strike a ball well, you might say "I caught that" (e.g., in golf).

[@Raven-Creations]

That was a beautifully constructed puzzle. As you mentioned, many of the clues had a really nice surface reading, disguising the wordplay quite well. It's quite often awkward phrasing which gives away the wordplay, but when it's done so well, you really have to think that much harder. I think most experienced solvers would be able to set a reasonable puzzle, but to do it with such style takes experience and a degree of art. I think end on was in the sense of approaching something end on, or from the rear, hence the back side is visible.

[@melodyb.7089]

a mark crossword video is exactly what i needed today.

[@erickehr4475]

End =stop; working = on. End on = with backside visible. Also i think the definition of flounce is “gathered piece of material”

[@davidgould9431]

Exactly! If you see something "end on", you're looking at it from behind. Edit: which Mark found in the dictionary and still didn't quite get.

[@markhawthorn7438]

That's how I parsed END-ON. It's a solid clue imho. I wonder if typing end-on with a hyphen might have turned up the word in the dictionary. It is hyphenated in my Chambers.

[@ItsmeAndy123]

Strike and catch can also relate to door closers.

[@tinarion3598]

Blistering pace on the quick cryptic, a marvel to behold!

[@Alex_Meadows]

Thanks Mark! It's actually possible to subscribe just to the Times' puzzle section, which costs a lot less than a subscription to the full newspaper - I think I pay £5 a month for access to all the puzzles.

[@leco4529]

If you view an object from its front, it is ‘front on’, or from its side is ‘side on’. So from its back side is ‘end on’?

[@emilywilliams3237]

I love these Friday crossword videos with either of you at the helm. Thanks for this interesting series. It sounds less like trickery or a foreign language now, and I occasionally get one of the words - today it was ochre! Thanks, Mark. (Your speed on the smaller puzzle was absolutely amazing.)

[@MikeCharnock]

To strike when fishing is to catch the fish.

[@paulellingham9358]

Mark's up earlier than Simon it seems! Usually this is a lunchtime treat, but a morning treat instead!

[@jarvisa12345]

18:08 A defoliant is for removng foliage, not hair.

[@umchoyka]

I think for 26 across, Yard is the definition (Imperial Measure) and the wordplay is andlit, combined with the question mark is saying that a yard and a meter are "equal" length

[@mw5076]

struck by illness the same as caught perhaps

[@Tsnafu]

metre and measure are used in music to define the time signature e.g. 3/4 metre has three quarter-note beats per measure.

[@richardfarrer5616]

If you are approaching something that is end on, rather than side on, then you would see its backside.

[@Swisswavey]

Please take these on regularly Mark, it's so good to see a master at work ❤️

[@louisesuth8141]

Always nice to see Mark at work on the Friday Times

[@filkube8540]

1 down: if you struck out at baseball, the ball would have been caught? I feel like there's a smoother way to phrase it, but that's the vibe I get?

[@mikechappell5849]

Mark found in Chambers 'end-on' defined as 'in the direction in which the end points', which I think is not very well expressed but does means the same as 'with backside visible' in the clue. Compare other dictionaries' definitions of 'end-on' - 'with the furthest point of an object facing towards one' or 'with the end forward or toward the observer'.

[@williambarnes3868]

Caught by a glancing blow. You were struck. A yard is an Imperial Measure. Fluid ounces are also Imperial Measures.

[@debrabowen4276]

Thank you Mark, we love these videos!

[@bluerizlagirl]

1A: "S" for start of serious and "edition" for "issue" (of a newspaper) gives "sedition", which behaviour could certainly be the start of a serious issue ..... 8D: "D" for "Daughter", "Well in" for favourably placed", with "G" for good gives "dwelling", as in "place to live".

[@darreljones8645]

I know Mark uses the pseudonym "mrmagoo" when doing the cryptic crosswords, but does anyone know what Simon uses? "Pieman", perhaps?

[@grenvillephillips6998]

Having enjoyed the pleasures of smug-mode last week, I found this one rather chastening.

[@scarletmanuka6170]

"Measure" and "metre" are related concepts in poetry, I think that's what's happening in 26A.

[@n8style]

Love how fast you can blast through the quick cyptic, amazing to see

[@angec9908]

You made me look up synonyms of “catch” and sure enough #5 was “strike (someone) on a part of the body”. Never would have thought of that connection

[@peteredwardmason6205]

You'll hear it a lot if you watch any boxing. Commentators will often refer to a boxer being "caught" with a jab or a hook.

[@davidrattner9]

Thank you Mark for solving this for us to wrap up June!! Pleasure to see you tackle clues and how your brain works.

[@glum_hippo]

I think that the phrase end-on is the solution. When you're viewing something 'end-on' its intended in contrast to seeing it from its broad side.

[@chrislewis-n3v]

when a boxer is struck by another boxer, the commentator will often say that he has been " caught"

[@al129]

Looking at something from the side or the back could be referred as looking at it End on, and so backside visible could be described as end on

[@jakstrike1]

Got 1a on the first read. I'm going to stop the video there while I'm ahead 😂

[@missioncardiac7599]

Very enjoyable as usual. 15 A : Stop=end, working=on. If you view something end on, then backside may be visible?

[@longwaytotipperary]

Nice to see the cryptic crossword! Happy Friday, Mark and CtCers!!

[@davidrattner9]

Always a wonderful treat to see it every Friday. 😁❤❤

[@longwaytotipperary]

@@davidrattner9 😊❤️❤️❤️

[@VonBlade]

14:16 Imperator is the word play?

[@williambarnes3868]

Who sang? Who Cares?

[@bphillips907]

"Caught someone with a punch" or "he caught punches" is a pretty normal phrase.

[@pizza7741]

catch these hands

[@mrscraftalot]

Lovely video! I’m so amazed at how quickly you and Simon can solve the QCs

[@vinyl1Earthlink]

This was real tough, and as a US solver I couldn't get clearing. However, I was able to parse a few more quickly than Mark was. A couple of corrections: (1) Pluto does not appear in Holst's Planets, since it had not yet been discovered at the time; (2) you can get access to the Times crosswords with any Times subscription. PS: Catch your eye = strike your eye; end on means sideways, so both the back and front can be seen.

[@bryanroland9402]

Very enjoyable solve. Nice to see Mark doing the crossword for a change. Some classy clues in that one. In 15 across, the definition is "with backside visible" and "stop working" is the wordplay.

[@waynethomas7406]

Thanks Mark, unlucky in the quarters of CD, you have made my week as I managed 10ac before your good self. Just some more evidence of the amazing effect that your's and Simon's efforts are having on the world. Of course, just like CD, much easier sat at home. 🙏

[@stevewood8]

Keeping the original tense, I think it is much easier to equate caught with struck than catch with strike - perhaps when describing a minor accident. A great solve of a tough Friday puzzle.

[@DevilboyScooby]

Is catch and strike synonymous in baseball? It seems a bit odd for a British crossword, though. Edit: Just after I typed this, Mark said "I don't think it's baseball." Creepy 😂

[@mace9770]

In boxing “caught him with a right hook” would mean struck.

[@creaghant]

Excellent solves Mark - Cheers 👍

[@salfordnurse]

Loved 19 down’s clue

[@HDMSC]

Good morning

[@peterdunlop7691]

Great vid

[@stevenclark1243]

If working can be on maybe end on is to stop working. If you look at something end on perhaps that is backside visible but that is a stretch still I think.

[@davidgould9431]

To look at something "end on" is - or, perhaps, was - perfectly good (British) English: you're looking at its end, hence 'backside'. There has been some debate recently about how crosswords tend to rely on old-fashioned language and maybe this is an example.

[@mjkluck]

Good stuff.

[@peterbiddlecombe1939]

Holst’s Planets Suite was completed in about 1916 - Mars as the first movement seems inspired by WW1, though apparently that movement was completed before the war started. Pluto was only discovered in 1930, so Neptune, the Mystic is the last movement.

[@ryanhollands5429]

3 Strikes in baseball = 3 catches

[@limegreenelevator]

...that's not at all the case. A strike is a pitch in the strike zone, or one swung at and missed or fouled off. It's not a catch