How To Solve The Times Cryptic Crossword

** TODAY'S PUZZLE **
A bonus video this morning where Simon attempts today's Times Cryptic crossword. Friday is normally the hardest day of the week in The Times and this is a REALLY good puzzle.
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[@stegra5960]

My favourite clue was "Which letter is used twice in this academic submission?" Very clever and just about within my scope, unlike most of this.

[@longwaytotipperary]

I liked that clue also - though I don't think I would have figured it out before watching this.

[@TheFreeBro]

I thought that the answer ESSAYS would have worked as academic submission has s and a. But then I saw the clue wasn’t asking for a plura

[@Rolfjhl]

I get it! I I... Understand it. 😁

[@nate_storm]

one of the few clues i could get

[@zetamathdoespuzzles]

I laughed so loud at this one when I got to that one that it attracted Tristan in from the other room!

[@BFG_9000]

Delighted to hear a little Tom Lehrer today. Thank you Simon.

[@sebastienlecoq3956]

I really loved your explaining (Metropolis director was Fritz Lang).

[@longwaytotipperary]

1) amazed at your extensive word knowlege 2) thank you for explaining how you derive the answers!!!!

[@msclrhd]

Alternate Title: How To (Watch Simon) Solve The Times Cryptic Crossword

[@HannuHartikainen]

I love the cryptic crossword content that you have. I'm a cryptic crossword hobbyist myself -- in Finnish, my native language. Never could fully solve an English one. Here I didn't even know half the words. But every time I see these videos I learn a lot of new stuff, so I'm sure one day I'll be doing easy puzzles on my own. :)

[@SnowTheJamMan]

Love these crossword videos, it's how i originally discovered the channel. After watching the "Inside No. 9" episode "The Riddle of the Sphinx" i wondered if there were any videos on yt about cryptic crosswords and i found you. Who knew in a few short month i'd end up absolutely obsessed with sudoku.

[@DhansakPuzzles]

There is one channel dedicated solely to cryptic crosswords...

[@DhansakPuzzles]

@@derrickleblanc603 it's me :) DB Puzzles.

[@parlabaneisback]

04:21 Maybe 'play without hindrance' refers to Hamlet without the 'let'. ('Without let or hindrance' being a fairly well-known British phrase.)

[@powt0wn]

great spot!

[@phyphor]

Came here to post this, but glad to see someone else got here first!

[@KinkyTurtle]

I think that's right; that's what I figured too.

[@powt0wn]

always love the cryptic videos! great crossword and great solve. to those who think "i could never in a million years do this", be aware that there are more approachable cryptics out there too - if you love wordplay you might like em

[@d4r4butler74]

Love the word play... But without someone explaining why that is the answer, does one get better?

[@longwaytotipperary]

@@d4r4butler74 Exactly!

[@RandomBurfness]

What does one do if one's native language is not English, and does not live in a country where English is spoken?

[@powt0wn]

@@d4r4butler74 some crosswords provide annotated solutions, and there are blogs that explain the parses for others. and some you just have to stare at until you find the parse yourself!

[@franztrischberger8023]

"Loess" is a deposit from the last ice age. Glaciers scrubbed constantly over rocks and removed fine particles that got transported far away via the rivers. Usually in bends from the river they got deposited where the strong west wind, that was blowing during that time (thousands of years) and got transported away, again, until they ultimately got caught by bushes or layed down on east sides of hills where no/less wind was blowing. Over time several meters (or even hundreds of meters in the Great Loess Plateau in China) built up. A Loess particle is bigger than clay and smaller than sand and has propertie that makes it predestined for making fertile soils. In fact it makes up more than 70% of Chernozem (= black soil, most fertile soil type of this planet), which you find in the great plains in the US/Canada, or in the steppes of Ucraine and Russia. And several other places.

[@Leyrann]

Also, in languages that use umlauts it's actually written as "löss".

[@emilywilliams3237]

I love seeing how your mind works in the cryptic crossword arena. This is not as foreign as it was before I started watching CTC videos on the subject. Thanks for the fun!

[@wickedcherub]

THESIS! omg my mind is blown

[@onijester56]

"The experience of us who solve The Times' Cryptic Crossword every day" ... ... ... I'm happy if I get the normal-difficulty Wordle in less than 6 guesses. Or "normal rules" "hard difficulty" Sudoku from the cheap (free-to-play) app I have in less than 20 minutes. Me doing a normal crossword is insane, frick doing a Cryptic Crossword!

[@longwaytotipperary]

😄

[@EdwardBradford]

MOAR CROSSWORDS please. Pretty please.

[@rayabbottgayjaycult3488]

I didn't even know what cryptic crosswords were before this video, and now I'm mindblown...🤯

[@DhansakPuzzles]

Visit the channel DB Puzzles then, and you'll have dozens of these to enjoy.

[@longwaytotipperary]

same

[@Sandtalon]

I’ve never ever managed a cryptic crossword so this was incredible to watch

[@nightwishlover8913]

Why does it not surprise me that Simon knows Tom Lehrer? Genius.

[@alexandraritter3542]

Extraordinary. Flying through London, I often wondered why I had such difficulty with the crosswords.

[@craigjones2075]

Fritz Lang was the director of the film Metropolis that came out in 1927.

[@plusjeremy]

After doing the puzzle daily for about two years, I’m on a hiatus due to school. Your video inspired me to give it a try today. There were quite a few write-ins to get started, so it wasn’t like those puzzles where you stare at it for 10 minutes with only one or two words in the grid! But lots of very subtle, very tricky clues as well. Thanks for sharing.

[@longwaytotipperary]

So happy to see this!!! 😊

[@gordonglenn2089]

It is always a delight to see one of you solve a cryptic crossword. The Times is a really tough one for an American, but I love to watch someone solve it and learn a bit every time. I have been solving cryptics since about 1994, starting with GAMES and Dell puzzle magazines. Now I find The Times Quick Cryptics to be quite an enjoyable pastime (online or in books available at A-Z).

[@bobblebardsley]

Me at 19:27: "TEDIOUS CHANCE! ... oh."

[@orosma868]

That made me laugh so much. I had all the letters on a wordle once and put in toady instead of today! What!?!!!

[@th.nd.r]

Absolutely loved this, again I love the cryptic crosswords on the channel! Beautiful setting and solving as always with these!

[@DaShikuXI]

The way I read the 'ham' part of 'ogham' was that a play is 'hamlet'. 'Without hindrance' means to 'let', as in you let something happen. Hamlet without let is ham. In doing so I did kind of double read the 'without' part though, so I have no idea if it's a correct or viable way to read that clue.

[@EdwardBradford]

Yes this was my reading. But otherwise it was a very clean explanation!

[@KettleandString]

wow that old boy clue was so clever what a spot simon

[@jwolfe01234]

Fun facts: Eider and Ida are not homophones where I live, which makes British wordplay interesting sometimes. The Wikipedia page for Eider has a reference to Frankie Howerd (which was added in 2015 and not by me). Frankie Howerd's stage name was spelled differently than his birth name of Howard.

[@EarlOfWarwick1561]

Good Fritz Lang representation, M is a whole vibe

[@keyaanmatin4804]

Oooo a bonus video!

[@TrekBeatTK]

Yes, Fritz Lang directed the film Mettopolis.

[@Possessed2k9]

As I was walking to get a train this morning, I walked through a tunnel which contains a mural of successful/famous persons from my town and the surrounding area. Dame Ellen Terry is on that mural. I was shocked to see that she was from my town... So I googled her... She isn't... I was confused... Why would she be on this mural? Well, I noticed she has a son named Edward Henry Gordon Craig... My town is the home of the Gordon Craig Theatre - the theatre is named after him! But why would Gordon Craig's mother be on the mural... I must do more research!!!

[@dicksosa]

My brain simply does not work this way.

[@11mandylion]

I explained the 'power' in power dressing as 'The Power of Love' by Frankie goes to Hollywood..and I was quite proud of that as well :D

[@Nickle314]

Lawyer. "Mrs Goldsmith, do you know your son has an Oedipus complex?" Mrs Goldsmith". Oedipus, smedipus, who cares so long as he's a good boy and loves his mother.

[@dylanspiderman2517]

Fun video, thanks Simon. I’d love an explanation of the Old Bob/fish one

[@powt0wn]

a shilling (abbreviated S) in old money was nicknamed a bob; 'had' can mean 'ate' ie 'made a meal of'; S+HAD = SHAD; a shad is a fish!

[@dylanspiderman2517]

@@powt0wn Thanks Davey, good one!

[@GoldShockAttack]

Wow, I can't believe that I've heard of a word outside a crossword that Simon hasn't. The Loess Hills are a geographic area in western Iowa in the US. Did me hearing of them help me get the clue? Lol of course not I still didn't get it.

[@ericcork34]

February????

[@IceDragon978]

Oh man, even when I watch Simon solve a crossword he talks about prime numbers. hahaha Also, I wouldn't mind a video where you go through the crossword without commentary and voice over your thought process, or explain after submitting the puzzle, if the explanation extends your time.

[@keithlewis7205]

Fritz Lang director of Metroplis

[@grenvillephillips6998]

Got stuck on 18ac on the printed version because the answer was given as having ten letters. First misprint I've ever come across in The Times.

[@alkyycarovny8334]

When you fail at foreplay: 16:17 "We´ve done quite well at the top, look, but unfortunately most of what we´ve done is not leading to profit in the bottom."

[@seanm9306]

Love the Tom Lehrer reference!

[@RD-nk8os]

Anyone good at sudoku and/or pencil puzzles in general, but noob at cryptic crosswords?

[@user-kn8bu8ue6z]

Im damascene!

[@zmaj12321]

Apparently, Ellen Terry is an actress who performed Shakespeare in the 1800s.

[@powt0wn]

exactly the kind of modern cutting-edge cultural reference one expects from the Times crossword!

[@apgwilym]

8th April in my calendar.

[@bobblebardsley]

0:46 *April

[@antreb15]

play is Hamlet, without hindrance is to 'let'. OGHAM.

[@lexyeevee]

i can't believe how much living in the US seems to put me at a disadvantage with these clues. some of the things you consider to be standard cluings, i would never guess in a million years

[@justinpreston4152]

well done (without using google) - I'm much better at sudoku than crosswords as I rarely finish them without using google

[@legion162]

And I could barely follow this, so don't think I'll even bother giving it a go myself

[@JohnDouglas-q4f]

Not sure what I write here

[@peterkelley6344]

Simon! You've never seen the movie Metropolis!!!??? Find a copy immediately (irregardless of the edition version) and watch it. It originated out of Germany, and is considered a masterpiece (for a number of reasons) from the silent movie era. NOTE: The longer the version the more complete the restoration of the movie you have.

[@d4r4butler74]

Always love the Crosswords.

[@sleepyheadsarah]

For #2 down, "Edge one may observe in the Mendips", did they choose that clue because a hem is used to "mend" a garment?