The Times Crossword Friday Masterclass: 24 May 2024

** TODAY'S PUZZLE **
In the 67th edition of our attempts to solve a Friday Times crossword, Simon tackles today's puzzle, which is a beast.
The puzzle is available to play on The Times crossword club website (which is behind their paywall):
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[@angec9908]

Please stop apologizing for long videos. You know we love them or they wouldn’t have so many views!💜

[@Draedaja]

Leave it to Simon to apologize for MORE CONTENT ;D

[@yatagarasu1495]

100% this!! I see the 1h+ video and feel happiness

[@sebastienlecoq3956]

"You might be surprised, queen is also a name for a cat" **Loot at my cat **Not surprised

[@CineMiamParis]

My cat supports this comment

[@SolarEquinox]

I'm guessing "spade alone" is a reference to how an actual Ace of Spades would be portrayed on the playing card - as a literal spade symbol, alone

[@Emmibean77]

My first thought when I came to watch this video was, “how lovely! Over an hour of cryptic crossword.” So, needless to say, you don’t have to apologize to me for a long video, and I suspect I’m not alone in this! I truly do look forward to these videos all week.

[@creaghant]

Another marvellous solve. Thank you Simon. And please keep doing the quick at the end. Its really entertaining to watch you zip through it 👍

[@Antagony1960]

While it _is_ interesting to see how speed solving is done, I can't say I understand why anyone enjoys doing it. I mean, there is no savouring of the clues or the overall quality of the puzzle like there is in the full solve. So without that, what is the point? Is there a thrill in getting one's name high up in a league table that only Times crossword subscribers will ever see?

[@HaydenSupaTee]

40:28 “Simon doesn’t fit” - rough hahaha

[@viri6839]

I know very little about crosswords, but I do know about animals - young horses are foals (colts or fillies) or yearlings. Ponies are adult small horses. And cows have 4 stomachs (rumen, reticulum, omasum, abomasum), or 3 if you count rumen and reticulum as one.

[@debrabowen4276]

WE LOVE CRYPTIC CROSSWORD VIDEOS!!!

[@B1GB1RDB4G3L]

Whenever these videos pop up on a friday I'm like: YAY! It's cryptic crossword time! Thanks for doing these Simon

[@trisha2584]

Simon always makes me smile watching him get so excited and animated solving these crosswords

[@MarcMcMillin]

Also loved the quick cryptic! 🙂

[@thetaphi]

Oh dear. Beautiful solve, and the end of the race left me with a good tear in my beard. Vasco was our first dog. Brought him over from Corsica. He earned his name. That was almost 40 years ago. Thanks for the reminder, Simon.

[@kaybaybo]

Hi from Nova Scotia! I got a little giggle seeing it pop up as an answer - you hardly ever hear about us. I really adore these videos and look forward to watching them every week. They're so interesting, and perfect background content to knit to ❤ Thank you for making them!

[@coralieray7128]

I’ve never watched you solve a crossword puzzle before, but happened to be here when this video popped up. Excited to see what’s in store 😊

[@coralieray7128]

Such clever clue writing! Much harder than I expected - once again Simon’s impressive knowledge/recall is on full display. I am slightly confused about what the red letters mean after submitting? In the speed solve at the end it didn’t seem to be an error?

[@tirri_neut]

@@coralieray7128 It's just a puzzle cursor that shows on what cell you currently are. It is saved from the solving part and stays on the same cell after submitting. You can see that on 1:02:20 Simon writes the final word ("owner") and his puzzle cursor stops at letter "r", so that's why this cell isn't green afterwards. Error indicators do have slightly different colour in this interface. You can check it out in Friday Masterclass #32 where Simon makes a teeny-tiny mistake.

[@coralieray7128]

@@tirri_neut Thank you! I wouldn’t have guessed that so your explanation is greatly appreciated

[@K9mathematic]

I just wanted to say Thank You!!! After watching most of these cryptic videos, I finally decided to try one for myself. I was able to complete half of it without help!

[@MarcMcMillin]

Absolutely loved today's masterclass! 🙂

[@MasterHigure]

40:20 Yes, it does mean exactly that. When playing music, we do say "play softly" when we mean "play quietly". For many instruments, the connection is quite direct (say for an actual piano, pressing the keys softly will produce a quiet sound). But for all the others, "soft" has also become the standard term.

[@azrobbins01]

I enjoy watching these. I hope KZbin makes it worth your time to continue making them.

[@emilywilliams3237]

Yes, love these. I now can look at the daily quick cryptic and actually figure out two or three words. Which is two or three more than I ever could have done, ever, before you started doing these weekly masterclass videos. You are Mark are both good teachers, Simon. Thanks for these.

[@philipbrooks402]

Very impressive as usual. The speed solve left me floundering in the wake.

[@AirTails]

I'm so glad I watched this today, as the "corporation = stomach" thing came up for me for the first time later this same day!

[@davidrattner9]

Absolutely great way to get the holiday weekend going!! Love seeing you solve these every Friday Simon!!!

[@longwaytotipperary]

Wholeheartedly agree!!

[@hildahudson2344]

Getting hooked on Cryptic Crosswords thanks to you! 👍

[@jadeEpeace]

Thank you for another wonderful video. Each week this is my Saturday morning treat. And the longer the better in my opinion. It’s great you take the time to explain each clue and give us a chance to get it. I’m loving the bonus quick solve at the end. Thank you Simon!! :)

[@bristolrovers27]

Another lovely video, thoroughly enjoyable

[@peterdunlop7691]

The ace of spades is alone in that there is only one spade on the face of the card, rather than multiple.

[@annas3059]

Fun fact: the username of the top typist/solver on the Quick Cryptic is "Y Sbwriel Llwyr", which is Welsh for 'The Totally Rubbish".

[@Anonicc]

Yay for Fridays.

[@rimawarrior4811]

Excited to watch, good luck x

[@Cthulhus_Mum]

“‘Shaken players shift the load’. 9 letters. Vetinari had sneered at it.”

[@juliannicholls]

I only generally do one cryptic a month (The one in BBC Focus magazine), but I've been acing it for the last six months and I think it's these videos that have helped.

[@mrscraftalot]

Thanks for another great crossword video, Simon! I love watching you do the Qucik at the end, too. You fly through it so much faster than me :)

[@thecallingtreecompany7261]

Please please please add in the odd number of letters in the answers when you read the clues out, I can only hear your voice. Love the solves, for me they are my favourite of the week!!

[@Prazzie]

Thank you very much for uploading this lovely solve of both crosswords. Have you considered uploading shorter videos of you solving the Quick Cryptic during the week? I look forward to the Friday masterclass every week, but more cryptic crossword content would make even Mondays brighter!

[@vinyl1Earthlink]

Since you did the Quickie, real solver John McCabe finished in 1:50. On the other hand, my time of 6:55 doesn't even put me in the top 100.

[@Alex_Meadows]

Thanks Simon! The QC took me a bit over 13 minutes today, so I only have to knock a mere 80% or so off my solving time and I'll be beating you.

[@peterbiddlecombe1939]

Dictionaries used for Times crosswords: The main ones are not Chambers, but Collins English Dictionary and the Concise Oxford. The Sundaay Times uses Collins and the fatter Oxford Dictionary of English. Both papers use Chambers as the main dictionary for a barred grid crossword,. That said, unless you pay for an app, your old Chambers CD-rom seems the most convenient to use. Collins is on a free website, but that site includes content from three other dictionaries, and it’s very easy to look at the wrong material.

[@grenvillephillips6998]

I think the Quick Cryptic shows how the unconscious mind, works a lot quicker than the conscious mind, which helps to explain how the top solvers operate.

[@longwaytotipperary]

Love it!

[@danbanks9325]

Loving these videos. Been trawling through the last few years learning the ropes 😂

[@iaincook5835]

Dear me, Simon floundering over Wenceslas, a carol I've known for 60 years and thought was a gimme, yet smashing pyromania, fetid, andante and others, makes me ponder how the brain actually works.

[@Wilcoxxie]

Spade alone might refer to ace in card terms Simon :) 25:30

[@stevewood8]

When young, I used to think the line in the carol ended with 'last looked out' rather than just 'looked out, so I too was confused at the time about the King's name. Only when I actually looked at the words in the hymn book did it all become clear... Two great solves. Just like Simon, on the Quickie I initially wrote 'averse' as it made perfect sense, until it didn't fit with the other answers, and 'versus' had to take its place.

[@Not3xactly]

Simon, I love your sudoku solves. I've learned a lot of techniques from you. That being said, after watching the video I will not be trying these types crosswords. This looks way too obtuse for me...I wouldn't have gotten a single one right!

[@josephj9828]

I've never seen this crossword puzzle style before, but when you explained how you got 5 down, I lost it. While I'll never be able to do these puzzles, I really enjoyed the way you explain everything so clearly.

[@AngrySanta]

Though I don't tackle the heard ones, yet, Because of these videos I have been able to complete easy to medium cryptic crosswords

[@yehwellwhatever]

I think the lifeline clue refers to the fact that cats are said to have nine lives and fifty one minus a little more than forty could be nine. Edit: he got it a few minutes later. What a relief 😅

[@richardfarrer5616]

Even without knowing the king's spelling, "Whence His Lass" should make it clear. But the real problem is that Simon kept pronouncing it as "Wencelas". That doesn't scan in the carol. As an aside, the cow's stomach Simon was thinking of is omentum, rather than omatum.

[@viri6839]

No, omasum is the stomach. Omentum is the fold of peritoneum adhering to part of the stomach.

[@tristan3141]

Simon somehow made it scan! He said “Wencelas *last* looked out” rather than the correct “Wenceslas looked out”.

[@michaelpdawson]

The only way I would think of "Rana" as a prince is if it was a frog prince, that being Latin for frog. I wanted "group of players" to be a pack of cigarettes, although that's not much good "without a match."

[@peterbiddlecombe1939]

A rana is an Indian prince.

[@sucrose11]

Guys imma be honest I only watch the Friday masterclass 😤

[@phyphor]

I really dislike "back" as a reversal indicator for a down clue, but I shall have to learn to accept it, I guess.

[@geneinkc]

I’m no puzzle setter, but I just came up with a cryptic clue that amused me. How easy is this to decipher? “Mad naked king with 12 inches in position to get stepped on (5,4)” 🙂

[@Secretcicely]

No I don't know - Crazy pave, crazy foot, under foot

[@Zihuatanejo-]

My favourite was Thatcherism (and not just because i got it before Simon!) - very clever. Although I don't think Thatcherism was/is very nice.

[@Terapiaelukka]

My guess for the dream team: it is often made of players from different teams, so they never have a match to play together (+ what Simon said about them not having an equal "match")

[@mikechappell5849]

The surface meaning is that they don't have a match, i.e. don't have a game or fixture. But if we take match as equal, it just means a team without equals, which a dream team is. It's a cryptic definition because the obvious surface meaning is not the one needed.

[@jamestaylor961]

This was ridiculously hard today, just couldn't get on with the setter's mindset at all.

[@umchoyka]

A high court could be in reference to an elevated courtyard as in an open yard on top of a building?

[@Antagony1960]

I think it's more a reference to one of Collins' entries, which is, "a central often glass-roofed hall that extends through several storeys in a building", which I think perfectly fits the definition of a _high_ court (yard).

[@leousher-murray6408]

I’m absolutely baffled how someone like me would EVER do this…🤣🤣

[@ReginaldBathwater]

Lifeline = LI + Feline

[@francesT5877]

I follow The Rest is Politics pretty closely and I’m pretty sure most MPs aren’t involved in a tankini. Maybe one of the backbenchers? A tankini, Simon, is a bikini with a much less revealing top that comes down over more of your stomach. It used to be aimed at slightly older women and was very non sexy. Though there are MPs with very recherche tastes, tractors etc. As always thanks for the video.

[@falconcoolchris]

An atrium has a high ceiling

[@robertchristopher1920]

Your placement on the quick cryptic is "not absolutely dreadful"? Maybe you need to start looking at the percentile you're in instead. Maybe then you'll see how incredible you are!

[@MarushiaDark316]

I feel like obscure names are something that bars me from a lot of crosswords in general, let alone cryptics. Like I've never heard of Adante or Wencelas or Cranmer or St Kitts or Sauternes, so it seems impossible I could ever get this puzzle, even being allowed to look things up, because they're things I'd never even think to consider. Like how does one even begin to accumulate that knowledge?

[@Prazzie]

You're right, it's quite challenging, but therein lies the fun. Once the solution is known, you can look up that answer and learn about it, which is what I love most about cryptic crosswords. I have learnt a great deal from this hobby.

[@kaz_don_fan]

Would be interesting to know which of the clues Simon thought would be the ones that troubled people, such that it had a very high snitch rating. Simon had a bit of trouble with some of them, but not overly so - I've seen him struggle much more than this before. I guess that is the nature of things - maybe a clue or clues that Simon got relatively OK was giving other people lots of trouble.

[@sagov9]

a pony is a young horse? that's news for me :D

[@MichaelLamparty]

I think it is a common misconception.

[@CineMiamParis]

Petition for campaigning politicians to hold rallies in a tankini.

[@failurenotsorry6600]

The art in the thumbnail looks a little similar to a grown-up Harry Potter.

[@heatherallan9767]

🌱 baie dankie ✏✨

[@andrewgrant6516]

I have never seen yr used to mean younger. Ever. Does er mean elder? Or or mean older? Craziness.

[@craftsmanwoodturner]

I still don't get how rana means prince - I can't find any dictionary entry to back this up.

[@n8style]

Love the videos, but can't help feeling it gets a little close to cheating when using the dictionary before filling in the answer

[@stevenwilliamson6236]

'Good king Wenceslas last looked out'is why you think

[@Secretcicely]

It's actually - 'Good King Wences'las looked out, on the Feast of Stephen,' Source BBC Music - Classical music. There's no 'last' in the lyrics. 🙂

[@eashanshenai4980]

1:00 Typists may type in the answer after solving the puzzle, but would they really take 3 to 6 minutes to type out each answer? It seems odd. (Saying 3 to 6 minutes based on today's leaderboard)

[@viri6839]

Maybe so it's more "realistic"?

[@Skeflas]

Single spade being ace is referring to a deck of cards.

[@mikechappell5849]

An ace of spades is a spade alone because it represents one spade. Simon must be a bridge player, as he was thinking of a spade alone as only having one spade in your hand, which is called a singleton (one of any suit is a singleton)

[@michaelpdawson]

Simon was confused because he was thinking of a single card (singleton), which could be any value, when the clue referred to a card with a single pip on it (the ace).

[@Raven-Creations]

I was convinced 1 across was some variant of yearning/yearling (a yearling being a young racehorse). They seemed too close for it not to be. I just couldn't think of a way to stretch either of them, using the available wordplay. If that was deliberate misdirection, it was fiendish setting. I can't believe you couldn't see the justification for lifeline. How many lives do cats have? Over forty fewer than fifty-one. I really liked that clue. I also liked plugged. Could you not just sing the carol? "Good king wen-ces-las looked out...", and it sounds like (might be picked up) "whence (h)is lass" "Wencelass" doesn't even scan, I don't know what you were thinking. You did it again - took "High Court writ" at face value. "High Court" is the definition, writ dismissing case is ri, stopping a tum (tum being corporation). It was always going to be either "High, court writ dismissing..." or "High Court, writ dismissing...". It's unlikely to be the former - removing the start and end of a type of court case is unlikely to yield something meaning high, especially ending in (probably) either -ism or -ium. Some very nicely crafted clues this week, I like this setter's style.