The Hardest Times Crossword In 5 Years

** TODAY'S PUZZLE **
Yesterday's crossword from The Times had the highest difficulty rating for 5 years. It's a beast and Simon decided you might like to watch him have a go at it.
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[@ChrisRemo]

This is timely for me-I opened this puzzle, poked around, solved just a few clues, and ran out of steam before opening KZbin and seeing this video appear! Cheers Simon, looking forward to watching.

[@adamalpert6225]

As an avid watcher of both channels, I definitely heard the Chris Remo shout out for solving the monthly puzzles the other day. Collaboration time?

[@brants.3367]

It makes me smile knowing that two of my favorite puzzle channels support each other! 😊

[@solanumlycopersicum5687]

Not being a native speaker of the english language I just don't know what half of the words even mean, let alone how to decipher the clues, but nevertheless I massively enjoy the way both the setter and Simon juggle them around. Over here in germany we have a similar type of crossword called 'Um die Ecke gedacht', which literally translates to 'thought around the corner' but is also an idiom used to describe lateral thinking, similar to 'thinking outside the box'. And even though I like them and think of myself as someone with an above average (german) vocabulary, I suck at them. So hats off to Simon for talking us through this and also to Mark for solving it in 16 minutes

[@sleepyheadsarah]

I grew up speaking American English and many of these British words and phrases are also completely new to me.

[@Unchained_Alice]

I'm a native Brit and I haven't heard of some of these phrases or words so I can imagine how hard it must be

[@thedrunkenelf]

Yeah I’m a native English speaker and don’t know most of the words. They are very difficult words, not normal vocabulary.

[@bibliopolist]

I usually can do the "Um die Ecke gedacht" crosswords from Zeit Magazin in about 10 minutes (and only rarely don't get one or two letters, and only because they, being published in Hamburg, always have these ship types and other North German stuff...) I think I can only do this because I have solved them for decades now. Maybe I should do a video of this in German... :-)

[@MrBigrig5]

More crossword videos could never be a bad thing! Thanks Simon for a great solve.

[@nendwr]

Yes, more crosswords, please.

[@wossaaaat]

More bonuses! I absolutely suck at crosswords, and barely understand them even after they've been explained, but I still watch every one. Thank you Simon.

[@robertprice26]

I LOVE that this channel seems to put stuff out that they think people will like. Not necessarily making stuff that will get views. This is a great motive. It’s like if companies decided they wanted to make good products instead of solely focusing on maximising profits at the expense of experience and loyalty.

[@michaeljarcher]

in 50 minutes, I waa able to cook a mince beef pie, eat it, open one beer, whilst listening and watching. The time is not a problem, a joy to see. Good stuff.

[@marcarsenault7585]

On the Sudoku puzzles, I'm usually a half step behind, but I can sometimes spot things before you do. This on the other hand is completely beyond me, as I could have gotten maybe 2 of those clues. It's amazing that you have the skills to do both types of puzzles. Bravo.

[@richnewt]

11:10 is what always amazes me about Simon's crossword solving. He looks at three common letters, guesses a word and it's right

[@no-feetmcgee5577]

Simon declaring that sex is naughty (but not for that reason) is hilarious to me

[@TheEvanLewis71]

I’m glad it wasn’t just me! I got “jobless” and thought I was the cat’s bottom, then I saw the rest of it 😂

[@Jablicek]

Same!

[@Anne_Mahoney]

These are so cool -- I love watching the crossword solves. If this became a regular weekly thing, I would not complain!

[@simonl4523]

PLEASE more crossword content!

[@rjrodwell]

Would love to see Mark speed-solving a crossword then explaining the clues afterwards. See how many were guesses vs. ones that could be well explained to the same depth as Simon does.

[@andrewgrant6516]

I can only count as high as sex and sept in French, because I have a huit allergy.

[@highpath4776]

groan , thats e nuff.

[@B_Skizzle]

Bravo👏

[@mikechappell5849]

it's six in French

[@SnowTheJamMan]

What a great birthday present to wake up to, love watching you tackle these crosswords, pure witchcraft.

[@CrackingTheCryptic]

Happy birthday!!

[@SnowTheJamMan]

@@CrackingTheCryptic Thanks, and no worries there will be cake ;)

[@longwaytotipperary]

Happy birthday!

[@baldrbraa]

Oh to be 29 again… and again…

[@Draedaja]

I had - once again - no idea about most of these, even after your explanations. However, I was VERY entertained! My favourite part was how you had to read some clues out loud very slowly multiple times to try and make sense of them (and make sense of them you did! This did seem very difficult, hats off!)

[@mikewright7200]

I did this crossword on Thursday and found it fascinating to watch your brain churning over the clues exactly the same as I had done.

[@GordonjSmith1]

Loved it! Perhaps because I am a Brit living in Denmark I was shouting 'FAEROES' at the screen! But apart from a couple of the others that I got, this was really an education. My thanks. More please.

[@Stephen-Fox]

Love your crossword videos and hope this becomes a weekly thing - Although I know you used to do some advanced cryptics on the channel and it would be interesting to see you go back to those occasionally.

[@martinwilson5210]

Great video. I absolutely love how you tackle these cryptic crosswords, more of these please.

[@chrisj50]

More cryptic content 🎉🎉 Just incredible how often your instinctive first ‘guess’ is spot on - even for these esoteric words/phrases. Thanks for all the brilliant videos 👍

[@erinschloeffel]

Thanks so much for another cryptic! I am always blown away watching you solve these. I may be good at sudoku but consider myself lucky if I get just one of these cryptic answers... It is beyond me!

[@Ruddigore]

Please, please... I love watching you solve the Friday Times Cryptic. A great solve by Simon. A few of those clues had me stumped

[@baldrbraa]

Thank you so much for this, please do more really hard ones, it’s a great way to learn solving these monsters! Greetings from 🇳🇴

[@emilywilliams3237]

Fascinating! I hope that Mark's solve will also appear, as it would be interesting to see how he approaches it. Of course he won't probably be explaining things or justifying his answers out loud (though he will no doubt have his reasons, as is only to be expected). As for more crossword content, I do love the crossword videos. Some years ago you (or Mark, or both?) did some tutorial sort of cryptic crossword videos with easier puzzles and vocabulary, but explaining how the clues work. I have watched those, but not recently, but perhaps a new series along those lines would be of interest? I know I would watch it - but I try to watch everything, so I may not be the best gauge. Thanks, as always, Simon.

[@Enkil01]

Loved this, and would love to see more. Also loved the genuine happiness when you worked out some of the answers.

[@d4r4butler74]

A Picot is from Crochet, lace making stuff... It can be an edging on clothing etc. I got Jobless... but I could not have told you the why of it, so thank you for always explaining the whys of these fascinating crosswords. NA crosswords are more trivia than word play.

[@michaellott3575]

Well done Simon. It was hard enough anyway but under scrutiny, even more challenging. More please.

[@FrogSkull]

I'd love to see Mark's solves of the Monthly Club Special reappear. Those are my favourite videos on the channel.

[@jotunborn]

Mark is still doing them for the Cracking the Cryptic Patreon! (Also some really fantastic puzzle packs among other things. Phistomephel did one recently with a brilliantly twisty finale)

[@terryshelby9996]

Simon. This is great viewing .Love your honesty and engagement . Quite motivating to know as a novice and not a smart one that even the best have to work at it . Many thanks .

[@chipacabra]

Bergamot oil is the added flavor in Earl grey tea

[@davidrattner9]

What a wonderful way to wake up to a Friday morning!! Thank you Simon for showcasing phenomenal cryptic crosswords. Joy to have these added to your archive.

[@erickehr4475]

“Sex” is Latin for six, and VI is another way the Romans would have written six. So I think that is how the clue works. I had heard of cooncan. It’s a strange word because it’s not really English, but a misspelling of the Spanish phrase “con quién” That last clue was definitely a brute!

[@matthewdodd1262]

And for people don't know much latin, 'Sex' is used the same way as 'Hex', referring to 6. Where Hexagon is a 6 sided polygon, traditionally, Sextillion comes between Quintillion and Septillion, Quint being 5 and Sept being 7

[@erickehr4475]

@@matthewdodd1262 yes. Although I think Simon was wondering whether it is legitimate to use the prefix as a word in its own right. And I think the compiler is not using the English prefix but the Latin word. Whether throwing a foreign word into a clue is legitimate is another question. I think the fact that the compiler is using one Latin word to clue something else in Latin makes it legitimate. By contrast, “once” is Spanish for eleven - but I’m not sure it would be legitimate to have the apparently English word “once” clueing “XI”.

[@highpath4776]

@@matthewdodd1262 Sextus Maximus. Is Hex(agon) from Greek ?

[@Anne_Mahoney]

@@highpath4776 It is, in fact. When a Latin word begins with S + vowel, its Greek cognate (if there is one) will begin with H -- the obvious next example is septem and hepta, but there are others as well.

[@highpath4776]

@@Anne_Mahoney there is a kind of pronouncation that would give S and H sounds on that rule not disimilar. Could the Greeks not write S or the Romans H ?

[@mikelooker3649]

Small point West Ham FC are known as the hammers and also the irons and it would have been reasonable for you to put in your previous guess of Faerons (fairons) based on that.. Great solve

[@longwaytotipperary]

Bergamot is a citrusy essential oil touted as being uplifting - so is watching Simon solve this incredibly difficult puzzle!

[@davidrattner9]

Bergamot is a wonderful essential oil indeed that is used to put people in good spirits. Beautiful analogy with how Simon solves these!! 🙂

[@longwaytotipperary]

@@davidrattner9 thank you! 😊

[@davidrattner9]

@@longwaytotipperary Always thank you for being who you are!! 😀

[@longwaytotipperary]

@@davidrattner9 thank YOU for being who YOU are! Always positive, always appreciative!! 😊

[@Anne_Mahoney]

Bergamot is the main flavoring in Earl Grey tea, too.

[@MartinFindon]

Loving the extra crossword content!

[@mr_enigma]

I really enjoy your crossword videos, and I would love to see more of these.

[@doublelxp]

I'd strongly suggest that anyone who enjoys this should consider checking out the CtC Patreon. Mark goes through a cryptic that Simon set 20 years ago and it's completely crazy. Well worth the price of admission for the endgame alone.

[@AliceYobby]

you saying Cooncan looked like a slur was hilarious!! It really does, but as one who grew up playing it, the observation took me quite by surprise!

[@th.nd.r]

I love it!! Gosh you are incredibly good at these. I couldn’t solve this WITH a dictionary. Well done! Some beautiful clues in here, I actually really liked VIAND (despite the whole hyphen thing)

[@NetMaple]

I can't explain why, but the 27:20 momentary pause into "well that... that looks like almost a slur" sent me into hysterics. The way he was so unsure about it, I've got tears streaming down my face.

[@fussyboy2000]

It'd great to see Mark's reaction to this. Did he get stuck on the same clue? Did Simon find a solution easier than he did?

[@grenvillephillips6998]

Ironically, the last clue was one of the few I actually got. It would be interesting to know where Mr Magoo got stuck.

[@KeplersDream]

9 across ("Plant, end of stem, becoming black, declined") sounds like the shipping forecast.

[@cheriebraden1208]

Per video instructions, letting you know in the comments that my husband and I would like more cryptics content, please. We're watching all of them; a pleasure to follow along. Thanks.

[@mads_in_zero]

I'm really bad at cryptic crosswords, but I really want to get better at them, because every so often my mother or grandmother will be musing over a clue, and it'll suddenly come to me because the clues _do_ have an internal logic to follow.

[@bobblebardsley]

I feel like a few of these clues had common 'cryptic' words used for uncommon purposes, e.g. "Self-promotion developed fully, with energy rising," neither 'developed' meant an anagram nor 'rising' meant the whole word to be reversed. So people who rely on spotting the wordplay to solve, rather than knowing obscure words immediately for not-immediately-obvious definitions, may have struggled on several of the clues. I wouldn't have stood a chance anyway and I would have guessed 'Faerons' (FA Irons with the i changed to an e) as a last resort, so I would have had an incorrect solution even if I had solved everything else.

[@adamgrimsley2900]

This is fun, I’ve never done crosswords, as I’ve never done crosswords but looks quite stimulating with a bit of practice…

[@johnsouza4391]

I am amazed at your stunning vocabulary. And Mark's.

[@TimWalton0]

Sextuple and sexagenarian are words I've heard of that would lead me to think that sex could equal six in the same way that oct could equal eight. But when Simon put the letter V in place of the word SEE, it left me boggled!

[@frenchguy7518]

Sex is indeed Latin for 6.

[@ditfos]

This from a Guardian article on cryptics: “See” can indicate a V (via the Latin vide), the archaic LO or LA, or the letter it sounds like.

[@kaz_don_fan]

Very difficult, would be struggling to get 4 or 5 of these if starting on my own. Managed to figure out the justification for Traveller before Simon did, and also thought that FAEROES was good for International team well before Simon said it, but I couldn't figure out the wordplay to justify it. The Cockney aspect and dropping the H I'd have never figured out if Simon had not mentioned it.

[@arthurcharest9061]

More crosswords when the puzzles are good would be fun!

[@ShadowMark474]

3:20 well actually "sake" is _supposed_ to be pronounced and spelled with a short e, but it's such a common mistake that "saki" _became_ an alternative. In Japanese they are completely different and wouldn't be mistaken. It's kinda like how the dictionary changed literally to literally mean not literally.

[@Alex_Meadows]

I know that dictionaries are descriptive and not proscriptive, but I must admit that I was a bit irked when "literally" started to also mean the opposite. It makes the word literally useless.

[@ieatatsonic]

@@Alex_Meadows Literally meaning figuratively is Hyperbole

[@trobin]

@@Alex_Meadows i don't think it makes it useless at all. there always is context (its by far not the only word to mean multiple things in different contexts, even if they are antonyms!)

[@emlynlewis-jones4113]

I loved the fight with "Faeroes". Excellent solve.

[@christophermoore3753]

The French verb for try is “essayer” :)

[@julius9055]

I feel like half the difficulty is that Faroes is almost always spelt as such with no second 'e'.

[@faldocool1996]

The entire crossword is gobbledygook I’m utter gobsmacked this is solvable 😮

[@richardwingrove953]

West Ham are known as the Irons as well as the Hammers, just to confuse matters! I was sure it was going to be irons, but couldn't think of any words starting with F that would fit.

[@andrewgrant6516]

Unemployed = jobless. Girl = jo, well wishing = bless. Can't believe I got one before Simon!

[@amysteele2488]

Saw that one as soon as the J went in

[@peaoui165]

18:59 - French language. Un is the masculine form of one (Une is feminine)

[@maxstunner100]

“Sex with a dish… that’s a message from Mark.” 😂

[@elliehayward4740]

Even though I know everything will wash over me and I won't even get one clue, I still love watching these videos just to watch a great mind at work 😂

[@Raven-Creations]

That was a tough one. I did get ego-trip and traveller easily though, and you did get the wordplay in the end. Well done for getting 24A; I didn't. My thinking was that it probably ended in eboys (E=European, and boys = team). However, apart from feeboys being perhaps a reference to professional footballers, I couldn't come up with anything. I did consider Faeroes, but I hadn't thought of FA 'eroes for the West Ham connection though. I think it's a pretty weak clue, because although there is a Faroe Islands international football team that plays in Europe, they aren't called the Faeroes. That is, Faeroes is another name for the Faroe Islands, but as far as I can tell, it's not another name for the Faroe Islands football team (nor any of their other national teams).

[@profregan6937]

Such perseverance! Wonderful. How could anyone be unkind ?

[@moneyraymondottv]

What an epic video. Fun to watch, but could never do it.

[@nickloader3184]

Go Simon! Seconds before Simon I guessed jobless and astringent from the other letters and realised and understood earache as the answer. For everything else, as usual, he was streets ahead of me. Keep the cryptics coming :)

[@spanielwoman]

Thanks

[@CrackingTheCryptic]

Thanks so much spanielwoman - much appreciated!

[@jamiehollywood7681]

The tea seller / traveller word confused me because top drawer concealed in counter could have been T at the beginning (top), EASEL being something a top drawer uses, concealed in teller a counter, with S being "see". Tea seller, salesman.

[@epd807]

Yes! More cryptic crosswords on Cracking the CRYPTIC!

[@sabinrawr]

Sextuple has no hyphen. Sometimes they use hex- as well, but the hyphen is rarely used in this way.

[@MatthewLenton]

I'm no good at crosswords but I saw goal as an anagram of gaol which is where a judge might send you

[@glum_hippo]

Bergamot is not 'oily' so much as 'an oil', i.e., an essence. I like bergamot-scented candles (albeit in moderation)

[@highpath4776]

And Earl Grey Tea

[@Biddlebum]

I lost patience and gave up on FAEROES, after thinking about it for nearly as long as the rest. I should have remembered a crossword lesson from long ago - struggling to find a word to fit C?E?A?, possibly in a championship puzzle, and as Simon suggested in the video, deciding that the first letter could not be a vowel. So CAESAR either took ages to spot, or I didn't finish the puzzle, or lobbed in a wrong guess. If I'd given FAE?O?S a chance, maybe I would have understood and finished, though I also spent time trying to find an E for I letter swap.

[@jayfoad]

CEEFAX!

[@selenasilverstep7981]

I'm Ref and Got Ripe are my favourite clues here

[@Mandosami]

Here I was thinking the last one was FERROUS. Aa in West Ham stars being made of Iron..ie. West Hams other monkier 'Irons' rather than 'Hammers'

[@bupkissbananaband3237]

"sex with a dish - that's a message from Mark"

[@roxirossetti6250]

well done! i am learning so much from you!

[@daveperry7050]

Quite pleased with myself for managing to finish this beast and fully justify it all before watching the video. No problem with the Faeroes being an International European team as they've been a member of UEFA for more than 30 years. Sex is latin for six which seems fair when talking about roman numerals. I particularly like the used of 'au naturel' to indicate having nothing on in French. I did need to use a dictionary for some words that I just didn't know - COONCAN, VERBENA, FICHU.

[@Alex_Meadows]

Can we have a stream with the two of you collaborating on a difficult crossword, please?

[@andrewgrant6516]

I assumed that west ham was referring to the west letter of ham = H. Then I took that off heroes and Bob's yer uncle.

[@stimpyueediot]

cant believe Simon didnt get that chickens sleeps in coops.

[@eobrandon]

Nice job, Simon. On the “sex with a dish” clue, “sex” is six in Latin, hence VI in Roman numerals. You got there in the end, though!

[@tzyinccom]

Fun fact: travelling salesman is a very well known computing and mathematical problem!

[@MichaelDawson-pi9qx]

I've never seen Faroe Islands spelled that way.

[@SirCumference31]

That West Ham clue was diabolical. I was sure that "West" was a reversal indicator but it wasn't.

[@bibliopolist]

I guess I have watched too many of these videos, since, even as a German, I got the RA top drawer reference much much earlier than Simon did... (but nothing else of course)

[@brants.3367]

More crosswords please -- cryptic or otherwise!

[@forthrightgambitia1032]

Faeroe Islands have been a FIFA international football team since 1988. They are kind of a semi-independent state, with high autonomy, like Greenland. Although Greenland isn't recognised by FIFA... Sex is also Latin for six. You had rien for nothing so I guess it is fair game at this level of difficulty. Pretty sure I remember 'shake-down' being used as a name for a temporary bed in a Somerset Maugham novel, it must Victorian/Edwardian slang.

[@mjkluck]

More cryptics, please.

[@liamsun2543]

"Sex" is Latin for "six", and ancient Rome uses Latin, so it's Roman numeral for six.

[@williambarnes3868]

Not drawer as in chest of drawers but DRAWES as in RA= Royal academician.

[@nendwr]

Yes, I was yelling "Royal academician" at this for ages.

[@kalli-ope]

"Sex" as a clue for VI, because Latin "sex" is "six", and in Roman numerals, you would write 6 as VI - that is at the same time perfectly logical and devilishly hard.

[@hobnob_]

My guess was Foetors, like 'feeders' being people who kicked balls.

[@Maenamburi1]

The Hammers (WestHam) were borne out of the West Ham Iron works. Aka The Irons.

[@LandOfForeverSummer]

Well done!

[@heatherallan9767]

Thanks ...that was enjoyable :)

[@stevewithaq]

Okay, I got 1-down before Simon, so I'm content ; )

[@user-gy5cx5db2i]

enjoyed that

[@MatthewLenton]

Sex with a dish - that's a message from Mark

[@highpath4776]

When someone says a crossword is hard because it takes 15mins to solve (used to take 4 of us 1 hour not to solve the daily jellygraph one