The Most OUTRAGEOUS Crossword Clue

[@sonalita_]

If there's an award for "best clue of the year" 28 across would win it hands down. Utterly brilliant and funny.

[@MrJungle123]

'...a source of sexual attraction'. Simon: 'hmmm, maybe it's not Liz Truss'. 😂😂

[@gd_5526]

I laughed out loud at that one 😂

[@intentionalrounding]

As a US-based person who’s fallen in love with cryptic xwords and has gotten better (cut my times in half over the past year), I still struggle with the insane amount of acceptable abbreviations per chambers across the pond. Perhaps you can do a video for patrons listing out the most frequent ones? I absolutely loved watching your solve of this one, and thought it was witty as all get out on Dave’s part (esp 28A obv), but never would have been able to solve it myself without the aforementioned abbreviation knowledge.

[@AngrySanta]

For anyone wondering about Coryza; -A catarrhal inflammation of the mucous membrane in the nose, caused especially by a cold or by hay fever.

[@sue3458]

I saw Dave Gorman's show recently and was delighted that he did a segment about his crossword setting and his Nemesis!

[@sue3458]

His Nemesis will have loved 28 across - not!!!!

[@ritchards]

looking it up: coryza - catarrhal inflammation of the mucous membrane in the nose, caused especially by a cold or by hay fever

[@SomethingWellesian]

Crosaire, the legendary setter of the Irish Times cryptic crossword from 1943 to 2011, who lived most of his life in Zimbabwe, used to delight in occasionally including a word like this. He said he loved knowing that halfway round the world there were thousands of people who’d want to wring his neck.

[@jessevennard2640]

Is that you Munya?

[@andykey78]

Jesse, is that a Taskmaster deep cut!? if so, I salute you 👏 🙌

[@SirBradiator]

Good timing, I'm off to see Dave's stand-up this evening Edited to add: Incredibly funny, and a whole section about him becoming a crossword setter over lockdown too, which may have had something to do with 28 across. No spoilers

[@gavinellis8982]

Although I do love the sudoku videos, these cryptic ones will always be my favorite! I'm glad you guys still do them from time to time

[@jackofalltr4des]

One thing that I can't quite believe about this puzzle is that word, "coryza". Although I'm not familiar with the definition off the top of my head, I am familiar with the word, as it features in the Broadway musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. I had wanted, at one point, to make a cryptic crossword featuring all the obscure words that they use in that musical, e.g. chimerical, elanguescence, astrobleme, and ilspile, but after realizing that I had no good way of even setting all the words together, I abandoned the idea. And so, when I saw that coryza was set in this puzzle, I couldn't help but pause the video and marvel at the coincidence.

[@jessieatkinson1120]

I'm trawling back through your cryptic crossword videos at the moment and this is definitely my favourite so far. Nice to see a setter with a sense of humour, and Independent ones I find are more accessible in terms of not needing to have a lot of obscure cultural knowledge. Would love more of this kind of content in the future! :D

[@longwaytotipperary]

So much to love about this - Simon’s intuitive brain, quick wit and especially Simon’s hilarious reaction to clue 28! 😂 What a happy start to the day!

[@davidrattner9]

His reaction and reading of the clue is definitely something to rewatch numerous times, especially if having a bad day, to cheer you up. :-)

[@longwaytotipperary]

@@davidrattner9 😄

[@emilywilliams3237]

@@davidrattner9 I totally agree. I made my husband listen to it because it just brings a smile, doesn't it?

[@longwaytotipperary]

@@emilywilliams3237 yes! 😆

[@skarcade]

Such a wholesome reaction, bless him 😊

[@bobblebardsley]

Well I thought the Independent had fixed the confusion over the Continue/Hide buttons on their 'solved' screen but I think that's just because this was the newest puzzle available at the time it was solved. Nice that it didn't erase all the answers like usual 😂

[@TPH250290]

This should've been on the "Cracking the Cryptic: After Dark" channel.

[@Adrian_Grey]

"That clue almost breaks all the taboos of cracking the cryptic" We have taboos?? With all our naked singles? And touching snakes?? 😉

[@Noam_.Menashe]

I can't imagine how many hours it took to get the skill to do these without any help.

[@nicokuhne3255]

the classic 10.000 i would imagine. Probably more

[@Schilani]

I am also curious how in the everliving hell somebody comes up with these clues.

[@GordonjSmith1]

Love it when you solve Dave's puzzles, they are always clever enough to engage with, but also often very amusing! Nice work all round!

[@veri745]

For the first time ever, I figured out a clue on my own and faster than Simon - I saw 10 across pretty much immediately I find these cryptic crossword solves fascinating, but completely baffling, to watch.

[@GenWivern2]

A strange mixture, with more write-ins than expected alongside some really convoluted clues. As for 28ac, comments expressing performative outrage about that sort of thing were one factor in ending my career as a crossword blogger, along with contributions from the nanoquibblers and homophone obsessives. And there was me thinking that it's just a bit of fun. Anyway, thanks for the video, Simon. 🙂

[@KestrelQ]

I'm useless at cryptic crosswords, but as a fellow Liverpool fan I was thrilled with myself for getting 10 across!

[@th.nd.r]

Absolutely lovely! Always love the cryptic crossword content!

[@davidgould9431]

10:53 [re 28A] "that clue almost breaks all the rules of Crapping the Cryptic". I probably need to get better headphones.

[@joshsimpson1283]

I've been watching this channel for a while. I can almost keep up with your sudoku videos and sometimes definitely find myself yelling at the screen on those 😂 but this was my first time watching your crossword puzzle content, and that was crazy. I didn't know puzzles like that existed. I maybe could have gotten 3 of those without help even after I started to understand what was happening 😂

[@greatgreyowl2583]

Simon on windows you can hold the ALT key and tap the TAB key one or more times to get to other programs that are open. When the task bar won't show.

[@B1GB1RDB4G3L]

Yayyyy i love when you do cryptic crosswords! I’ve started getting into them too :)

[@kitsovereign4127]

Loved the def on 7A. Yes, a "narco" is either a dealer or a narcotics officer here in America, but I liked the cheekiness of saying they're part of a "crack" team. It's not talking about "expert"!

[@houligan5254]

Once you said p for quietly from a musical score, I was brought back to grade school orchestra. p is short for pianissimo, which is that you play the musical section quietly / softly.

[@rosiefay7283]

p = piano = quiet. pp = pianissimo = very quiet.

[@sgtreckless5183]

I actually got 28 across before Simon, quite chuffed with my self

[@spencerftn1]

I normally don't watch crosswords. But, I hear there's something that shocked simon. So, I gotta see.

[@bristolrovers27]

Excellent puzzle with some really nice clues St Ives isn't too shabby and the eleventh element is geranium

[@PeterMoore66]

The 11th element is sodium

[@bruceyanoshek626]

But is the clue to 28A fair, since the HO part is clued after the IDAY, with no indicator to put it first?

[@skarcade]

All I can say to these things is - bobbins.

[@emilywilliams3237]

So fun. A very nice bonus this morning to get this crossword video, and I laughed out loud at a certain part, as you will know if you watch the video! Thanks, Simon.

[@highpath4776]

26 Down for the Port - I O (Input / Output (jack) )

[@hb-robo]

Rising Sun on the thumbnail? Seriously? We getting swastikas next? Christ.

[@andykey78]

The way Simon says "sexual" - wouldn't he be an amazing narrator for the Rocky Horror Picture Show!? Now I just need to scrub my mind of the image of him in fishnets...😳

[@selenasilverstep7981]

Atomic Number 11 is Sodium, I think? Not that it was relevant

[@Kelters]

Nice solve of a witty puzzle. Good fun. Only got about 3 clues before Simon this time. -- I agree that St.Ives is not what it was in the 60's and 70's. But it is still Cornwall, one of my most favourite places. Love the coves and villages along the south coast.

[@femvoxfan]

The only letter I got wrong was in 13D - being a US solver I often forget some of the standard tricks in British cryptics. Happy that I was able to parse all the clues though - with the exception of 28A which was a mystery to me until watching Simon's solve. What a crazy clue! The crossings at 23d and 25d were both new words to me too which I only got from the wordplay parts of the clues. Simon got 25d very quickly - perhaps that's something that's more common in the UK than the US? Thanks for the puzzle, I always enjoy them and I can always use the practice! My solve time was 1:04:01 after clicking the 'Check Puzzle' button to see where I'd gone wrong and remembering what 'posh' was trying to tell me 😆

[@soulbound11]

These crosswords are entirely beyond me. I'll stick to my mediocre math and sudoku. :P

[@theunwelcome]

yeah, none of this makes sense to me before he explains it, and less than half of it makes sense to me AFTER he explains it...

[@SourabhDas95]

I think for 17 down the 'Common' means it's common/it's often done/it's prevalent. So if you say "it's just good sense" it means it's self-evident/it's the norm/doesn't require further justification or "it's the common thing to do"

[@laurasmith2173]

It could also be reference to the phrase "common sense", which is a literal way of saying good sense and sound judgment in practical matters.

[@SourabhDas95]

@@laurasmith2173 I feel like the clue would need to be 'common sense' as just 'common' isn't a valid shorthand way of saying 'common sense'. "That's just common sense" and "That's just common" don't seem interchangeable. Of course the clue couldn't just include the word 'sense' as it's also in the answer, so that would be a functional reason why it wouldn't be included, but that feels like worse justification if the 'common' does indeed imply 'common sense'. 😂 This is the best association I could come up with that makes the clue justifiable.

[@SomeRandomGuyOnYouTube]

But the answer is a noun phrase, so the definition must be too. It's not the usual adjective sense of "common". As Simon surmised, it is a British informal way of saying "common sense" ("he's got no common, that fella.") Ironically, this usage of "common" is rather uncommon. It does appear in Chambers (the accepted crossword reference), but not in some other British dictionaries.

[@SourabhDas95]

@@SomeRandomGuyOnKZbin Ah, didn't realize it had informal use. Good to know!

[@sebastienlecoq3956]

Regarding the kickstarter, is there a pledge that get the books signed by both of you, or would that be too much logisitics ?

[@longwaytotipperary]

Although that would be wonderful, they’ve already got over a thousand!! Maybe some more contests with that as the reward!🙂

[@sebastienlecoq3956]

@@longwaytotipperary I was thinking for the the limited 150 $ pledge, or for an outrageous 250$ pledge (that does not exists at the moment), but the idea with the contest is as good, and probably easier for them to logisiticate).

[@longwaytotipperary]

@@sebastienlecoq3956 well that would put it out of my range (currently, though I still entertain the possibility of winning the lottery). But I’m all for having a signed copy being available in some way.

[@emilywilliams3237]

@@longwaytotipperary Ah be careful of the lottery, a tax on people who are not good at math! (of course, one does have to buy a ticket to win, and I have been known to buy a ticket a time or two - I guess, just paying my taxes!)

[@longwaytotipperary]

@@emilywilliams3237 I usually buy one ticket a week - just for fun!

[@steveamsp]

Yes, for 7 down, "Narco" is a term for a Drug Enforcement Administration agent.

[@andymullins7187]

For the run=go query, you can think of a machine.

[@JamieAtSLC]

More crosswords please!

[@jasond4084]

Is cryptic crosswords just a variation of Cockney slang? To me this is all “knots and crosses”, “naughts and chains” …. “Not a chance”

[@barneytrubble]

good sense is common it's common sense

[@Cogskate]

Indeed. "Use yeh common," was something my London-born great-aunt used to say a lot (usually to my great-uncle).

[@danielsanders4037]

This is much funnier if you've watched his show

[@SnugglesPlays]

Haha, very good. Are you planning on doing a book of cryptic crosswords as well? From different people and places? Or a free cryptic crossword app? That would be great. Also, have you met Dave Gorman? Are you going to see his new show? 🙂

[@CrackingTheCryptic]

I do hope to see his show - it's coming to a theatre near me next April so fingers crossed :)

[@Ogrecrusher]

Have you ever done the Cryptic Crossword in Viz magazine? I'd love to see you try one of those! Probably too hot for youtube though!

[@jonbrowne8334]

I was in hysterics at 28 across!! 😂

[@darreljones8645]

According to my dictionary, "coryza" is another word for a cold, as in the illness.

[@SnugglesPlays]

Also, just tried to join your discord server, but it keeps saying the link has expired or is invalid. Please help?

[@dbridle09]

26A could have been port as in IO port?

[@RichSmith77]

You would then need something in the clue to give you the 'R' at the start. Using 'Rio' for port achieves that.

[@bluerizlagirl]

8D: "Factor" is the definition. "11 making five thousand" is actually nothing to do with 11A. It's saying Eleven, but make five thousand -- make five (the letter V) into a thousand (the letter M) giving "ELEMEN", and "T" is an abbreviation for "tons" giving "ELEMENT", and a factor in something can be an element of it.

[@RichSmith77]

So, the same as Simon's explanation then?

[@lanaevans8319]

coryza is a cold in chickens from my research

[@reubenmckay]

Coryza is a medical term used in reference to/for the common cold.

[@archivist17]

Brilliant!

[@dillond9599]

Do all crosswords have that many anagrams?

[@RichSmith77]

If it's a cryptic crossword, probably. There are also non-cryptic crosswords.

[@rowanalison5429]

Common as in "horse and.." I take it

[@rosiefay7283]

I thought it was good sense = common sense, though I disapprove of just "common" as the def.

[@rowanalison5429]

@@rosiefay7283 My grandad used to say "use your horse and common" and left the word "sense" off, so I think it is a usage, but maybe a more owrking class/London one.

[@essentialatom]

Simon really overdoes it sometimes.

[@Raven-Creations]

I'm not a fan of Dave as a comedian, but 28 was hilarious (and also a really good clue). If you enjoy this sort of risqué humour in a crossword, check out Cyclops in Private Eye; it's always good for a few laughs. Some very nice clues in this one.

[@stuartthomas7324]

For future, (start by someone else): ha hee little Betty boron could not offer flowers never, nautical muggers always think pirates so clever, are kinky cabbages school teachers very cruelly manipulate ferrets cause nice coloured zebras gain gcses as selfish Britons cry. Rhubarb strudels yelling zorro nearby mountains tackle running rhododendrons pleading against children in sunny siberia testing ingenious xrays.... Afraid at that point chemistry teacher caught Steve and I not listening and told us to do so. But at least reached end of second long period, during first (long) period of double chemistry with Dr slack Stu (cagey)

[@SourabhDas95]

co·ry·za /kəˈrīzə/ noun MEDICINE catarrhal inflammation of the mucous membrane in the nose, caused especially by a cold or by hay fever. "a patient suffering from acute coryza"