The New York Times Revealed Our Secret

[@derektionary5059]

Hi Simon!! Thank you for the feature!! I really appreciate it. You pronounced the title and my portmanteau correctly! The solve was perfect :) I set this puzzle mainly because of the interactions in box 5: a 4-cell renban + 3-cell arrow + arrow circle = forced. But if you remove one renban cell (e.g., box 3) or remove one arrow cell (e.g. box 6), the options increase by a lot. I loved your reactions to the break-in in box 1 and the 234 arrow in box 3 and the 6/7 placement in column 7, etc. The sequel "Raswor 2: Return of the Raswor" is out on CTC discord! So if anyone wants to try it out, please join discord and give it a go! It will be on Logic Master's Germany in one month :)

[@matteopascoli]

This puzzle was interesting and approachable, thank you! 😁 I too started from boxes one and two.

[@jacobknight5497]

Such a fun and satisfying solve, thank you so much!!

[@specialk6984]

Thanks mate, great puzzle. Always appreciate the effort you setters put in for the enjoyment of us mortals 😁

[@ericgrundmann8086]

When I did the NYT puzzle this morning, that clue gave me a hearty laugh. This channel was the first thing I thought of!

[@PuzzleQodec]

Yeah. My first thought was _huh? 'secret' doesn't fit in 3 cells?_

[@jez9999]

@@PuzzleQodec Yeah, um, what is the answer exactly? CTC?

[@26acorn34]

same!

[@chitraagarwal8259]

Am taking some solace in the fact that it was atleast Clue # 42 (the answer ..)

[@nathanaelyigzaw9908]

Cracking the cryptic is synonymous to consistency. Watching your frequent videos has made me smarter. Thanks Simon.

[@topilinkala1594]

Wrong! Consistency means that you follow up every time youi get a number or a pair and look what it does and Simon does not do that. He always abandons all consequencies and goes off on a new tangent.

[@jensschmidt]

I just love Simon‘s abysmal scanning. Makes me feel smart 😬

[@kathyjohnson2043]

I find myself wanting to help and he won't listen!!

[@stevenape377]

... yes, although I do think maybe he's often just focussed on other things that are just as useful to think about.

[@flabort]

@@stevenape377 Or sometimes more useful entirely, yes.

[@avishevin1976]

This video would have been half the length if Simon wasn't violently allergic to doing sudoku.

[@itsmeagain1745]

I've come to the conclusion that the setters do this on purpose knowing that Simon does sudoku as a last resort.

[@edwardsmith7031]

Simon: I'm sorry if you've been shouting at that... The wifey: See, he's listening to you...

[@bluerizlagirl]

I was screaming "Middle box! Middle box!" throughout the whole of the beginning! 2+3+4=9 was the only way to fill the arrow and leave 4 consecutive digits for the Renban. And then in box 1, there had to be a 1 on the arrow because 2+7=9 would leave only 4 digits in between, so the arrow in box 3 then had to be 2+3+4=9. Still, I suppose everything is obvious once you've seen it, and it's rather more often for Simon to spot something before I do!

[@danielwcrompton]

I had the same thought about box 3, where the circle couldn't contain 6, as the arrow would have 1+2+3 which wouldn't leave enough numbers for the renban line to have consecutive digits. So, as you said it would need to be 2+3+4

[@Addy0302]

If only you'd kept recording for 52 more seconds

[@LukeSumIpsePatremTe]

And then 45 more

[@vikingslayer34]

Good eye

[@inspiringsand123]

Rules: 04:02 Let's Get Cracking: 05:20 Puzzle Solved: 43:02 Simon's time: 37m42s What about this video's Top Tier Simarkisms?! Bobbins: 1x (12:20) You Rotten Thing: 1x (21:53) And how about this video's Simarkisms?! Beautiful: 7x (17:32, 23:43, 26:19, 28:31, 38:27, 38:47, 39:30) In Fact: 6x (04:35, 07:58, 08:00, 13:40, 31:54, 35:34) Sorry: 5x (01:14, 11:34, 12:06, 15:52, 37:30) Secret: 5x (01:20, 01:27, 01:36, 01:50, 22:22) Clever: 3x (03:05, 03:44, 43:05) Hang On: 3x (08:27, 12:32, 22:31) We Can Do Better Than That: 3x (27:10, 31:38, 36:09) Nonsense: 2x (10:13, 38:44) Lovely: 2x (18:07, 35:23) Ridiculous: 2x (03:01, 03:42) By Sudoku: 2x (30:53, 41:55) Surely: 2x (21:11, 23:25) Good Grief: 1x (30:55) Apologies: 1x (40:50) Naked Single: 1x (35:45) The Answer is: 1x (16:43) Missing Something: 1x (21:01) Stuck: 1x (41:45) Horrible Feeling: 1x (21:01) Shouting: 1x (40:52) Approachable: 1x (01:02) I've Got It!: 1x (31:57) Most popular number(>9), digit and colour this video: Fifteen (5 mentions) Six (120 mentions) Red (4 mentions) Antithesis Battles: High (6) - Low (2) Even (6) - Odd (0) FAQ: Q1: You missed something! A1: That could very well be the case! Human speech can be hard to understand for computers like me! Point out the ones that I missed and maybe I'll learn!

[@bristolrovers27]

Great puzzle Simons last 10 minutes should give us all hope with our scanning

[@hummakavula3750]

42 Down? Does that mean the Secret is the ultimate question to the ultimate answer of life, the universe, and everything?

[@itsmeagain1745]

Good call!

[@francescopetracca374]

Phenomenal puzzle, it takes you by hand in the first half without becoming boring and reduntant in the end. Incredible work, hats off to Derektionary!

[@victorfinberg8595]

Alternate logic for box 5: Arrow 6123: no renban fill Arrow 7124: ditto Arrow 81dd: ditto only arrow 9234 works

[@derektionary5059]

that's how I set it :)

[@erickehr4475]

22:50 for me. It was the difficulty level I like - not trivial, but I never felt totally stuck.

[@deelkar]

57:12 for me, very nice combination of clues, had some trouble at the beginning grasping the restrictions between renban and arrows. Then the sudoku part was also very enjoyable. Never got stuck after the break-in.

[@Laurana07]

The secret is out. Someone let the cat out of the scrabble bag.

[@markp7262]

37:59 finish. I would have been done sooner, but it took me more than 5 minutes to notice that the arrow in box 7 could not be a 1-2-6 triple. LOVED the logic on this, and saw most of it quickly (though by no means easily). Excellent job!

[@oakleyg2870]

That's one of the incredibly rare times I have EVER finished a puzzle with a faster time than Simon. 29:38. And a super fun puzzle to boot!.

[@itsmeagain1745]

Let me guess - you used sudoku...

[@Cream147player]

It just said row and column. It didn’t reveal the secret that each box also adds up to 45. No one will ever know that.

[@DaveZZilla]

Shame on you, New York Times fact checkers, for not doing your research.

[@smylesg]

Came here to post this. Good job.

[@davidstorrs]

It was a three-letter word, so I think 'box' was the answer. EDIT: Nope, I'm a dummy. It's "sum".

[@_-_-Sipita-_-_]

16:54 for me. Im concerned that i dont know the new york times answer, is it BOX? nvm i figured out SUM

[@TomHickey]

37:27 "[...] I have found it a little bit helpful with the renbans". Oh no, he's turned to The Mark Side

[@fulltimeslackerii8229]

some interesting logic i wished simon would have seen: in box 8, we have a 6789 cell on a renban. if the bulb is a 9, the renban is 9876. because if this, we know there has to be a 6 on that renban somewhere and this forms a virtual x wing with the renban in box 9. hope you see this simon! love your solve and hope to pay back all the teaching you’ve brought me!

[@HunterJE]

10:48 You can still rule the 1 off the renban in box 8, just by different logic (since the arrow clue has to be at least 6 and is on the renban, the lowest digit that can goin the renban is 3)

[@leximcnally2386]

Exactly what I was thinking, I was shouting at him haha

[@HunterJE]

More significantly, since there has to be a 6789 on the 4-cell line, there has to be a 6 on it no matter what, which combined with the 6 forced on to the renban in box 9 forces 6 in to row 9 in box 7

[@jamesahibbard]

A wonderful puzzle, it never felt like I was stuck for too long, and then the final cracking open, and having everything solve was an absolutely wonderful feeling, to cap an excellent puzzle.

[@Tepalus]

Simon: Hasn't looked at the clues in Box 7 Also Simon: "Where do we look now? It might be sudoku" Gotta love him for doing actual sudoku in a sudoku puzzle. :D

[@MattYDdraig]

37:43 Lots of sneaky combinations hidden away in here with some very powerful use of arrows to limit the renbans. Very good.

[@jmurt6379]

Definitely liked solving this puzzle with the combination of Renban and Arrow Sudoku! Was very pleased to complete this one in 20 minutes 🙂

[@longwaytotipperary]

Thank you going to the trouble to redo the part of Inception that the computer ate! I look forward to your solves every day!

[@joelstevens5670]

Very enjoyable, the way the renbans limited the arrows was really interesting (especially in box 1). Thanks both.

[@keegansimyh]

40:38 tfw when he erases the pencil marks and puts 135 on the arrow instead of just noticing where 1 goes

[@eliana_d]

This is a masterpiece of Simon taking the long way around simple Sudoku 🤦😂

[@EntirelyPointlessContent]

Thanks CTC. This will be hopefully my 70th solve from your videos.

[@eydie__]

Simon! The Escape Simulator game you streamed the other day has Sudoku Escape Rooms, you should try them out it would be fun to watch you guys breeze through them!

[@maxsmith9291]

Whenever Simon thinks he’s made a mistake at the end of the puzzle cracks me up 😂😂

[@victorfinberg8595]

1:00 "This is quite approachable". Hardly. Much closer to "brutally hard". The fact that Simon had to pencil mark the whole grid is a pretty good clue.

[@ericpraline1302]

Good level of difficulty, thanks. Finished this in slightly less than the video length, quite happy with that.

[@runninonempty820]

At 18:01 Simon missed that a 4 could come out of row 4 column 6. He finally noticed at 32:45.

[@BrooksMoses]

54:12. That felt like quite a challenge, so I'm rather surprised at how close I came to the video length. Certainly interesting, though, and satisfying when I completed it successfully!

[@johnhlatky7384]

This is my first variant that I have completed, took me 141 minutes 😬, or 1 hour 41 minutes, not sure if the timer goes to 100 from 99 or 59, wasn’t paying attention. Either way, it took me quite some time and I enjoyed it! :)

[@THETowandAA]

congrats! same...on of my first one i don't give up on and manage. took me like 150mins, on the try that went till the end^^ (59> 100 wouldn't make more sense i think) ... software timer wasn't thought for slow brain like us apparently and "HH:MM:SS" display isn't mplemented X)

[@johnhlatky7384]

@@THETowandAA I find these puzzles more festinately than regular sudoku now. At first, I thought these puzzles would be impossible for me, but after watching about a dozen videos or so, I tinkered with this puzzle and had a blast! I’ve done several others since then, and enjoyed them all, even with being slow brain with us normal humans 🥳.

[@TurquoizeGoldscraper]

26:46 for me - and I needed a hint from Simon. I couldn't figure out how to fill the arrows which ran along the 3rd row, and I feel stupid for not realizing that the box 1 arrow was a small digit and a large digit adding up to a large digit; I was trying to make two small digits add up to a large digit (fails on the box 1 renban), and then two small digits adding up to another small digit (fails on the box 3 arrow).

[@AlmostM]

I got almost all of it on my own, but I got stuck near the end. Simon's deduction at 38:30 was the last missing piece though, and with that I was able to finish everything else.

[@Frie_Jemi]

In box 8 you seem to initially mistake the renban line for an arrow, and then proceeded to not rule anything out from being a one. But the fact that the circle in box 8 has to be six or higher AND it's part of the renban line, means that line cannot contain a one or a two!

[@SilviuBurceaDev]

41:16 for me, probably the first time I'm finishing under the video's length. Could have been faster, but I was stuck for a few mins before the last step where everything unfolded gracefully.

[@volkerysilvia]

Simon, whenever you reduce two boxes to an xy-pair, it would seem like a good idea to scan across to see whether the pair is resolved... :)

[@itsmeagain1745]

...or up and down (looking at you, 23 pair in box 6).

[@cookiequeen5430]

47 minutes! I am always so hyped if I manage one of the non GAS puzzles!

[@BozoTheBear]

This was awesome, but pretty hard for me (took 81 mins). It's always a pleasure watching the solve afterwards and seeing how smoothly Simon can solve them.

[@jonathanweber2893]

Simon and the secret was the first thing I thought of when I saw that clue today!

[@kimberlypreston6204]

I can't believe NYT told the secret!!! 🤣😂😅

[@fulltimeslackerii8229]

7:30 i wish he would have continued this logic. i did on a whim and found out that 1 always has to go on the arrows. so the other arrows is 234. but then again, simon really enjoys his coloring and i wouldn’t dare take that away from him

[@Swisswavey]

Just under 24 minutes here, I really enjoyed that, my kind of puzzle!

[@forgottenfamily]

I was doing amazingly well but I ultimately needed two hints: 1) 36:49 - discovered it after I took a quick peek at a later point in the video and saw the 4/5 entered and was able to find the logic Simon used 2) 38:28 - just completely missed it

[@YourFavouriteDraugr]

The puzzle itself is quite grand, and indeed approachable. As for the video, one immediate note from as soon as the first pencilmarks were in, however - we knew from the start six can't go in the arrow of box 5 because it would then remove 1236 from the box, and the purple line would break. That also affects the 7 and the 1 in that box, and starts affecting the entire board immediately as well. A similar train of through applies to any lines/arrows that were 3 or 4 long, since virtually every such arrow/circle sees a purple line. p.s.: 19:10 literally hovering over an impossible 4 pencilmark, but that's common for the videos, given we know the camera has the magical property of sucking sudoku solving ability out of the poor sod facing it. This is also applicable to numerous pencilmarks and naked singles in any such video.

[@specialk6984]

Yeah, first thing I saw was where the 1 and 9 went on box 5. I feel sometimes Simon looks too hard beyond the obvious.

[@therocknrollmillennial535]

28:21 for me this time around. My scanning keeps letting me down, so I hope I learn to improve on that skill! This was a great puzzle and well within the difficulty I enjoy: never felt totally lost but I didn't just breeze through.

[@stephenjames2951]

I literally laughed out loud when you showed that NY Times page.

[@Anne_Mahoney]

Yeah -- and how dare they give away The Secret? Why, only about 446,000 people know that in the whole entire world!

[@volkerysilvia]

@@Anne_Mahoney more like millions...

[@gc2009able]

I prettttttty much managed this one on my own. I was completely stuck for awhile, though, and had to wait for Simon to catch up with the insight about r9c3 at 38:30. From there everything else fell right into place because I'd done all the sudoku deductions that could be done without eliminating that 6. Sadly, I don't know how long this one took me, because I accidentally left the timer going while I was off on a short errand!

[@doublelxp]

Once you know there's a 3 or 4 in row 8, column 4 it means that there must be a 4 somewhere on the Renban line. If it's not in that spot, it's in R8C3 by sudoku.

[@GrantMcLean]

Not sure if Simon intended to post a link to the puzzle on the test version of the app rather than the production release version.

[@TemujinReads]

That was a very satisfying puzzle to solve from start to finish.

[@yarrowwest9125]

Simon needs a "by Sudoku" fairy over his shoulder to save our sanity! He is now not only the epitomizing example of "British", but also "can't see the forest for the trees".

[@jmicolm]

Honestly these puzzles sometimes feel like a football game "Oh come on! Number 9! 9 is single in the corner! It was absolutely free with no marks!"

[@itsmeagain1745]

'Come on referee - that 8 was offside'?

[@kevinyoung796]

28:16, no idea how I've done it so much under the video length.

[@Twiztedgoalie]

34 minutes in and I’m waiting for Simon to notice the 1 by sudoku in box 8 as he does everything else in the same box instead.

[@Twiztedgoalie]

And the 9 by sukodu.

[@stevieinselby]

Great puzzle 👍🏻, finished in 24 minutes, which might be my record for how much quicker i did it than the experts! This one definitely repaid an approach of just getting stuck straight in, playing around with numbers and seeing what combos work and which don't, rather than looking for clever logic 😉 and it also repaid following things through to the end rather than being distracted and going off on a tangent!

[@RiviRrapper]

Beyond the extra markings, it seemed like you were slow to fill things in quickly. It just goes to show how even when you're not on your A-game, you are still able to get through in an impressive time. I hope all is well Simon.

[@Xiuhtec]

54:06 for me completely on my own not watching the video at all. I'm very proud of that time since I usually go well over an hour if not two for anything Simon or Mark spend over half an hour doing.

[@stumbling]

Pleased with myself for solving this one. Especially since I was about to give up but instead I put it aside for a day.

[@Coyotek4]

34:02 ... approachable and very enjoyable Nice puzzle!

[@werefrogofassyria6609]

only took about an hour to complete. This one was good.

[@THETowandAA]

Yeeeeah finally got it! quite new to it so I keep "seeing" sudoku tricks that aren't really there leading to unevitably breaking the puzzle at some point !... took me like 3 tries starting from fresh but finally managed to do it all by myself. yay me!

[@PathOfShrines]

Really cool idea. 29:59

[@boivie]

I was shouting column 6 most of the video.

[@sh4dowchas3r]

NYT should have had it as 45 down

[@Coyotek4]

The secret's out!

[@jonbrowne8334]

Cannot bloody wait for the Inception solve!!!!!

[@slurpleslixie]

56 minutes, some of that was being really slow at Sudoku, some of it was being really confused by Box 1 and having convinced myself the arrow had to add up to a small number (I forgot that you could try to fit the entire purple line in between two arrow digits. Or rather, I knew it in theory but when it came to coding the list of all possible triples I forgot to allow it) but I'll have to watch it and see what other obvious things I missed

[@lonelyaura]

Weird sleepless question: is it possible to graph certain sudoku rules? I feel like there could be something to graph with the "can't exceed 9" stipulation on the arrows

[@rhubaruth]

The inception puzzle is cool. I tried it and got to the island part. Unfortunately I am stuck and scared I made a mistake earlier 😅

[@awilliams1701]

once you knew that 1 had to be on R3 in box 1 I just started laughing. I'm like the arrow in box 3 is a 2/3/4/9 arrow!!!! lol I just got soooo exited and I saw it before you did. lol

[@sampathkumar-ej7xl]

Enjoyable but I have a feeling this was a little easier than some of the recent ones on the channel.

[@LednacekZ]

18:17 for me. This was quite easy.

[@KombatGod]

To be fair, I think we can trust the readers of the New York Times who play the crossword puzzle to not reveal the secret to anybody else.

[@rickk9897]

Why was Simon upset about the NYT clue? And what was the (3-letter) answer? I feel like I missed something, but can't figure it out. TIA

[@stevieinselby]

I'm guessing the answer is SUM

[@HiMyNameIsColdguy]

Still can't see the arrows is there no way to make them darker?

[@glennmelven3414]

Took 80 minutes for me because my inner stormtrooper was doing the scanning today.

[@TheEricthefruitbat]

I realize that the mind of a genius works differently from that of a normal person, but watching the genius omit putting in the immediate results of a deduction (instead going off on a different trail) is so frustrating. I may need to take a break.

[@j.r.qwertz]

It took quite a long time for Simon to see the 1 in field 8

[@Gonzalo_Garcia_]

16:35 for me. Nice puzzle, I didn’t find it too hard but it did require some good thinking.

[@elfdogre2181]

Yes, loads of shouting at Simon throughout the puzzle. Why? Sudoku. One day, Simon will actually do Sudoku in a Sudoku puzzle that has lots of little distractions such as renbans, arrows, etc... 9's for example: once Simon had the 9s in boxes 2 and 5 he should have been able to easily place the 9 in box 8 since it could not go on the renban line as he had already deduced. I do understand though. His mind is going to places I'm not seeing and when I catch up with his deductions, all I can say is, "ah!" I'm here for trying to learn the logical leaps that both Simon and Mark utilize seemingly effortlessly. Well done on another superb solve!

[@AngrySanta]

In all fairness 42 is the answer to all things in the universe

[@th.nd.r]

Beautiful setting and solving as always here! Derektionary and Simon, take a bow apiece! So many interesting moments.

[@mikepictor]

38:30 gah, got stuck on this for too long

[@gd_5526]

Ok i must be having a stupid moment, but what was the answer to 42 down?

[@jessicapermadi6340]

I'm so crap at regular crosswords let alone cryptic crosswords, so I'm commenting to hopefully come back to this when someone answers!

[@andysyme8507]

I’m thinking SUM

[@mcalphax]

26:14 for me A bit easier than expected, probably due to the video's length. It was around the minimum threshold of difficulty for me to enjoy a puzzle.

[@DonaldSjervenE]

I wrote down ALL for that crossword answer. Secret is safe.

[@pema22]

I think Simon hates me. I keep shouting "Do Sudoku !!" on almost every video, but he keeps ignoring me. My life is useless :-D ;-)

[@itsmeagain1745]

We are in the same group i think. I do the same 'where's the 9 in column 6' for example.

[@geoff544]

10:49 - It may not be an arrow but you still cant put a 1 on the line with a 6 minimum on the end of it.

[@Roblilley999]

A 5,6,7,8 box is the best step to do

[@MariaVlasiou]

Done! 2+2=5 indeed!

[@roryparle]

You sometimes to slow yourself down by deleting information you've already worked out and pencilmarked. For example you had restricted 1 to row 8 in box 7, but at about 40:30 you deleted all of the existing pencil marks in R7-9C3 to fill in the 1,3,5 on the arrow. That wasn't a big impediment in that particular case because it was trivial to work out the proper arrangement at that point anyway, but at other times I've noticed you discarding very useful information in the same way.

[@itsmeagain1745]

He also does it by wildly hitting the number keys until the correct number appears. I've seen him delete important pencil marks by doing this. I think he will need a new keyboard or two soon judging by the hammering when changing modes.

[@adrianhead6272]

Completed in 23m05s.