The Times Crossword Friday Masterclass: Episode 34: This Is VICIOUS

[@PotmosHetoimos]

Not only do I love watching these videos, not only have they led me down the path of cryptic solving myself, but I met a lovely young lady recently at a concert and, after finding out she was a huge aficionado of standard crosswords, I’ve been able to introduce her to the universe of cryptics as well - and we’ve been having a blast solving them together. Please continue the masterclasses! ❤

[@JohnLeeShaw]

Hello Simon! Well, after an hour at this this morning, to no avail, I did feel slightly better seeing you have such a hard time with a few of the clues. That was until it become such a nightmare for you, I shared your agony! Well done though for cracking it once again, with your usual display of knowledge, humility, and humour. You certainly let no one down, quite the opposite infact. These videos are extremely valuable for me, personally, and judging by the other comments, they are for many others also. Please read through them if you need some reassurance sometimes as to their human value. I do hope you will keep doing them. I really understand how important the algorithm is for your channel though, and I really appreciate how you and Mark must question whether or not it is worth taking the hits for us each week. KZbin is sometimes quite clueless and superficial, and one for focusing way too much on commercialism. (It's ruined Christmas, why not knowledge and learning?) Anyway, it would be a very big loss to my Friday if you do decide to stop. Anyway, just my tuppence. Once again, have a great weekend to you and all. PS: If you ever get over the Thelwall Viaduct again, let me know. I might be visiting my hometown of Warrington. I'll take you to a lovely little pub and buy you a much deserved pint! 😊

[@longwaytotipperary]

@JohnLeeShaw What a wonderful comment!!! Totally absolutely agree with everything in your comment! So glad Simon did read it and hopefully took your message to heart! 🙂

[@JohnLeeShaw]

@@longwaytotipperary Thank you so much, that's really nice of you to say! And yes, fingers crossed that it has helped, indeed 🙂

[@longwaytotipperary]

@@JohnLeeShaw 😊

[@louisesuth8141]

well said!

[@paulredford9719]

Rare to see another Warringtonian on the big ol' wide web! I was also feeling a pang of nostalgia at the mention of Thelwall Viaduct :)

[@Jonty340]

These Friday videos are the best part of CTC. I enjoy the struggles and the thought processes revealed live. They help me a lot in improving my own solving skills.

[@riotblob]

I’ll add my voice to the chorus that’s saying, Simon, please don’t be so hard on yourself! I love watching these crossword videos and have learned so much from them. The only thing I don’t enjoy is when you call yourself stupid for not getting something instantly! This puzzle seemed ridiculously hard - I invented the word ‘glacis’ from the wordplay and had to look it up to see if it existed, and I would never have solved ‘letters patent’ or even ‘gogol’ myself. I hope you are feeling better and I really, really hope you decide to keep making these videos. They are such a gift - and my not-sudoku-obsessed household joined the ranks of your patreon supporters just because the cryptic crossword videos are so great and we want more (and to support the continuation of these public ones) 💚💚💚💚

[@Mark.AW1962]

Hi Simon. Please DO NOT stop doing the crossword solves! They have become a firm part of our Friday evenings and when we (very occasionally) get an answer before you do it is an absolute joy.

[@thanderhop1489]

the dictionary did have "goddess of flowers" for flora, but Simon was skimming too quickly

[@joeg451]

Simon's Sudoku scanning skills coming in clutch

[@shadowstargate]

his mouse was right on it :')

[@CrusherUK2013]

It was green.

[@debrabowen4276]

Simon scanning is always entertaining!

[@mikechappell5849]

he quite often does that, looks at dictionary entries too quickly and says it's not there, when it clearly is if he just read it properly

[@derekwalsh1973]

Another amazing solve from Simon. Blows my mind every time. The exam is “viva voce” and then you remove the vo (abbreviations for very old) and you’re left with vivace 😊

[@riotblob]

oh wow, I did not pick up on this at all! I had parsed it as “viva” plus “CE” (as opposed to “BCE”), but yours is much better!

[@michaelrichardson2391]

Its extraordinary that in the space of 3 days 10,000 people have watched this vid, when you consider how 'niche' the content is (a guy doing a crossword for an hour). Dont stop doing what you're doing please, its really appreciated!

[@wossaaaat]

Dear algorithm gods. Please accept my humble comment as sacrifice, and bestow your blessings upon these videos. Long may they continue.

[@stevewood8]

Bravo, Sir. Your 'never say die' attitude eventually slayed this beast of a puzzle. A lesson for us all today in so many ways.

[@Alex_Meadows]

Well said!

[@recentrunes6519]

Please don’t stop! I learn so much from these videos, and I always look forward to Friday teatime to watch these!

[@jonhansen9622]

Oy, you are WAY too hard on yourself, Simon! As always, thank you for your videos and all the time you spend teaching us

[@profregan6937]

I have learnt so much this year from Simon. Such determination and wisdom. Scintillating!

[@fredrikwidlund4945]

As with several other comments here, I also really enjoy these videos. Since they are a part of the channel name I really think they should be featured. In my country we do not have these types of puzzles. But when I saw them - what a joy to do. For me it was a tough start, trying to solve these. But after I learned how to read them by your tutorials and videos I can now do half of the Times puzzles in a week - with a little bit of help and a dictionary. If it had not been for this channel I would not have discovered these puzzles (I don't think) and I would not have known the great comedian and great setter Dave Gorman. I am so thankful that these videos exist!

[@richardgower2605]

The tricky crosswords are even more satisfying to watch ! Please keep going and don't be so harsh on yourself. Any time you struggle reminds us that you are a mere mortal after all !!

[@rockhopper_penguin]

What a beast of a puzzle and what a great video. You are so hard on yourself Simon. You should definitely be proud. Thank you for perservering on our behalf. It's much appreciated. You've helped me to start my own cryptic crossword journey so your videos are making a real difference. Please keep the videos coming. I really enjoy them.

[@fregus.]

haven't finished the video, but hopefully he gets that "CE" is "common era" and therefore not "before common era" and therefore not very old

[@fregus.]

oh well, he still got it solved! I'm sorry the youtube algorithm doesn't like these videos, I personally love them and think it would be a shame if they were to stop.

[@karthick_michigooner7431]

thought it was ... VIVA VOCE... and not very old meant take the VO away from VOCE

[@glum_hippo]

@@karthick_michigooner7431 Oh, that is a very good insight indeed!

[@qoole33]

or it could be 'ace' meaning "after common era" - same idea.

[@jaydenbenston2869]

I was thinking Vivacious but missing the ending because its not very

[@peterw4974]

Thank you very much for doing these Simon. I've watched them all, they're really great, and have definitely helped my solving. For VIVAVACE: At 1:00:00 you had it open in the dictionary. The full Latin phrase is VIVA VOCE (Latin: "with the living voice"), for an oral exam. But most people shorten it to just VIVA. So, VIVAVOCE, take away VO ("not very old") gives the answer.

[@Tryptographical]

Not to suggest you’re wrong, as these cryptics also have very winding and multifaceted clues, but to my mind the more direct way to unravel VIVACE is to take ‘viva’, for exam, and CE or Common Era, for Not Very Old, where BCE would be Very Old. Together they form vivace, root to vivacious, meaning lively. Simon may have figured it out this way and this comment is for moot; I’m commenting as I’m watching and haven’t reached the end yet.

[@damienknapman2308]

@@Tryptographical I think you'd struggle to point to any dictionary definition that defines CE as "Not Very Old", or even BCE as "Very Old", whereas knowing that Viva Voce is the full name of the exam and you're removing V and O from it via wordplay is plain cryptic.

[@timotab]

@@Tryptographical I'll admit that CE for common era was my first thought, but I'm inclined to think that if that had been the intent, then the clue would have been "Lively exam, not very old?" - the question mark indicating a pun or more obscure subtle definition. Without that question mark, I'm much more inclined to think that VIVAVOCE removing VO was the intent.

[@peterw4974]

@@Tryptographical Oh, well I certainly wasn't meaning to come across as the voice of authority (which I am very much not!). In fact I did parse it like you (and others), myself when I first solved this. But, seeing discussion of this elsewhere, I think probably "Common Era" seems very loose, compared to VOCE - VO? I commented more, because when Simon was clicking on "Viva" in his dictionary, the full "Viva Voce" did appear as a blue heading on the right when he was reading the definition. Now I know from previous videos Simon has said that he didn't do any schoolboy Latin (like some of us), so the full phrase maybe didn't jump out to him.

[@johnwhitfield4361]

Agree with peterw4974. Adding comment really just to help the algorithm. I do worry that Parkin was not remembered (yum, but no icing). Keep the putter in the bag, Simon.

[@thelobsterperson]

I really enjoy these, please keep doing them! My parents who don't really understand cryptic crosswords always look forward to these videos and love your personality

[@Vet3-v9x]

Brilliant solve of a brutal puzzle. These are my favourite CtC videos so please keep doing them. Alternating weeks of Simon and Mark would be my preference. I loved it a few weeks back when Mark solved a puzzle at full speed at the end.

[@d4r4butler74]

This is always a wonderful time. All the CTC videos are wonderful in their own ways. I think that the fact that you love to do these (in my mind) quirky worded puzzles explains a lot of your Sudoku 'find the most complicated way to do this, not the easy given digit in the column' habits. Another way to look at it is you learned something today... and even better, you taught many people today. Today was not a waste.

[@DarklordZagarna]

These videos are fantastic; please don't stop doing them. The vocabulary alone (even excluding ridiculous abbreviations like "leading aircraftman") is astonishing. I've prided myself on having a pretty broad vocab and this crossword just absolutely puts me in my place.

[@MarkBDancer]

Vivace is the answer because the full name of the exam is Viva Voce, so remove v and o for very old and you’re left with the musical term vivace.

[@millbott]

I absolutely love watching the Cryptic Crossword Masterclasses! Please don't stop them, they're a highlight of my week!

[@GordonjSmith1]

You let no-one down, this was not very 'accessible! Loved every step of the solve. My thanks for sharing it with us.

[@ahope1]

Definitely worth doing these videos, Simon! Great fun to watch, ESPECIALLY the struggly bits! Please don’t stop!

[@davidrattner9]

Wow..hour and 10 min crossword?? Thank you Simon for your continued dedication in solving these for us every Friday!

[@longwaytotipperary]

Ditto! 😄

[@davidrattner9]

​@@longwaytotipperaryalways cherish your ditto responses😁

[@longwaytotipperary]

@@davidrattner9 ❤️

[@vinyl1Earthlink]

That's not the time he would take if he was going all-out, and not explaining what he is doing. I would guess between 30 and 40 minutes if he really pushed.

[@JaneFokster]

As a non-native speaker of English I don't have a hope in hell of ever solving one of these, but I do really enjoy watching you do it. So thank you for the video and best wishes from the Netherlands.

[@MrBigrig5]

Bravo Simon - A truly tricky one this time. Keep on solving these please, it’s truly a highlight of my week!!

[@jadeEpeace]

I love the crossword solves. Yes even the long ones like this one. Thanks Simon.

[@AlRoderick]

Parkin is a cake from Yorkshire, and it's next to flat cap, so the north of the grid has some northern flavor.

[@fuwjax]

I haven’t missed a cryptic video yet. I recall watching Mark solve one years ago and being completely amazed that such a puzzle could be created or solved. That you attempt them every week is a gift. Please do keep solving them as often as you can justify. As an American I have zero hope of ever being able to tackle one, but I find them immensely enjoyable to watch.

[@leehazell7633]

Videos such as this, even when extremely hard, are always massively educational and my favourite weekend comfort viewing.

[@emilywilliams3237]

Well, that was amazing. Lately, thanks to the tutelage from you and Mark in this strange world of cryptic crosswords, I have been able to eke out one or two answers while you work on the puzzle. Today, not a single letter did I get. Thanks for doing these, Simon. Very interesting. Never mind the algorithm.

[@joanabbott9531]

I so enjoy watching Simon’s mind work. He does things that seem obvious only after he explains them. Wonderful video.

[@cheryllayne1]

And yes, your masterclass is worth doing.

[@janet-dn2ot]

Simon, you are brilliant! You are a joy to watch and partner as you go through your thought process. Please please don't stop!

[@rhysbart]

Take a bow and boot the algorithm down a glacis. This video was epic, I tune in every Friday. I must be getting better was saw Floating Voter, Parkin, Precis, No Chance all fairly fast. Simon, getting the rest even with help from the dictionary is a tremendous achievement. No one on earth as heard of LAC. Brutal.

[@josephblack2757]

what a phenomenal solve! On the contrary, rather than feeling let down this was one of the most enjoyable watches I've had -- and it's a series I deeply enjoy. Thank you for sharing your time and talents, Simon!

[@Torenhire]

I've learned so much from these videos. Not just cryptic crossword learning but just general vocabulary and wordplay. It's unfortunate that the algorithm is not cooperative with them. I went from having absolutely no idea what you were even talking about on these clues in the first videos, to being able to solve a handful of them on my own, or at the very least understand how the answer reverses back into the clue if you come to the conclusion before me. One of my most looked forward to videos on a Friday!

[@mikegatenby316]

Hello. Please keep up the crossword videos. I enjoy them a lot and find them very useful as I try to improve my crossword skills.

[@dtcaffy3663]

I love these crosswords videos - please don't stop doing them! I love getting to witness your thought process in real time.

[@adamusher468]

Thank you so much for the video and a very difficult but interesting and educational solve! Please keep them on the channel. I look forward to it every week!

[@thejeqff]

Please keep doing these videos. These are some of my favorite videos of the week, especially the hard ones. Seeing the struggle and how you parse the clue to get to a word - even if you don't know it - is very helpful.

[@spasaire]

Another fab video, It's heartening to see a master struggle - I tend to start struggling after a few clues so it is encouraging!! The idea of finishing even an easy cryptic in an hour is a dream...keep posting and ignore the algorithms - what do they know?? And the very best of British for the Championships, hope you give that other bloke that pops up on the channel a run for his money!!

[@troymcdougal9010]

"Hindmost" may come from Robert Burns poem, "Address to a Haggis." One line says, "Then, horn for horn, they stretch an strive; De'il tak the hindmost, on they drive."

[@tonyvanderpeet5683]

I thought "Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost" was quite a common saying.

[@archivist17]

There's a track cycle race called Devil Takes the Hindmost where, after a few laps, the last rider past the line each circuit is eliminated until the pack is down to a pre-agreed number, when there is a race to the finish.

[@Anne_Mahoney]

@@tonyvanderpeet5683 I agree, and, not only that, it's exactly the kind of phrase I would have expected Simon to know. It fits with the rest of his vocabulary -- he can say "this is the most X in Christendom," for example (an idiom I grew up with but hadn't heard in decades before discovering CTC).

[@Graem24]

Hi Simon, loved the video. For Vivace the dictionary counted Viva Voce as also meaning an exam, and Not very old removes the v and o to give Viva ce. Keep up the amazing work!

[@neogen8554]

I’m new to the channel, and I absolutely love it. I only got Parkin and the CE bit before you 🤗 Amazing content, keep up the great work and the true craft of sharing your knowledge while entertaining us. Thank you Simon.

[@benjaminwatts1119]

I, personally, don't mind you taking ages, it is just more of Simon solving to enjoy!

[@Ray_Ridley]

Please don't stop tthe Friday solves, Simon. I had seen the word chondrite but didn't know the definition. As foe glacis, I'd never heard of it either. You made all the right calls in the end.

[@trisha2584]

Simon - this was a great solve of a very difficult puzzle. There were lots of words I had never come across and only one clue I "guessed" before you gave a valid explanation .

[@MulberryElmham]

I tried this puzzle before watching the video and got about half the answers, but was stumped in the end. Seeing how hard Simon found it I felt a lot better about what I did achieve. It is also amazing how a clue which I was utterly bemused by (answer was “floating voter”) suddenly was obvious to me when Simon read it out. I add my voice to the chorus of thanks and do please keep on doing these.

[@Ruddigore]

A lovely solve Simon. Some really awkward words there. Don't you dare stop doing these. I really look forward to the Friday cryptic solve from CTC.

[@PeterSkinner-u5n]

When it is hard it helps me even more as I get an insight into the myriad of thoughts needed. Please continue, I look forward to these every week.

[@LogiBizzle]

Really love these crossword videos, Simon; please keep making them! And they're never ever a waste of time: I couldn't have even imagined answering a cryptic crossword clue a few months ago and I was able to get 3 answers before you did in this video, which is a testament to how useful and educational they are.

[@ThePainWhale]

Simon, I absolutely love the crossword solves, and I'd be devastated if they went away.

[@longwaytotipperary]

Always look forward to these every Friday! And today we get Simon reciting Edgar Allan Poe!!

[@George4943]

Learned a lot today. Especially how Simon thinks about and accepts or rejects possibilities.

[@Enkil01]

If Mark had a lot of trouble, would love to of seen his attempt. Think I will just relax and watch, I dont think my very beginner skills will be up for any of these today. Just finished and please dont worry about the length of the vid, loved seeing how you work through the harder clues. Look forward to the Friday Crossword every week.👍💯

[@suewilliams7091]

I love these videos, they're so instructive. I know I shouldn't, but I feel so pleased with myself when I am able to solve clues before Simon does! It makes me feel lke there is some sort of hope for me with my mundane brain again his genius xx

[@craigjackson5210]

Still loving the Crosswords each week. Please keep it up!

[@arthurcharest9061]

Struggling is a great way to learn. Thanks Simon!

[@dunsparce4prez560]

This is the first crossword I’ve seen Simon do. Love the channel and the skunkworks puzzles this month, can’t wait for the greatest hits books! Cheers!

[@bobliddington4134]

Well that was amusing. Hats off to Simon for approaching such a tough puzzle with great tenacity. Watching along, although he did get many words ahead of me (a couple of them unknown to me), oftentimes once he had run through the cryptic element the answer immediately jumped out to me. I had the last 4 clues done about 15 minutes before Simon. I was familiar with chondrite and it fit the cryptic perfectly. I was also familiar with glacis from "glacis plate" - sloping armour - from my model tank building days of 50+ years ago. I also liked the double cryptic possibility for vivace too, as others have noted I initially went with CE for common era, but then immediately noticed when Simon displayed Viva Voce from his dictionary that loss of Very Old gave the answer too. Parkin was easy to spot, just needed to parse the cryptic correctly; and Precis fell out smoothly.

[@HalcyonAcorn]

No!! Take pride in your work! There were several words that are definitely not on your average vocabulary list. I only got glacis because I loved castles and such as a kid! Grand job, Simon

[@philipbrooks402]

Another pleasurable romp through the crossword with Simon. A sense of satisfaction when you beat him to the answer; I had 5 across, think Bonfire night, and 5 down. Also Leading air craftsman =LAC inside GIs.

[@coralfeatherstone7019]

Very hard on yourself. I could not have got even one of those answers. Keep them coming.

[@MarkCalverley]

When I did this I trusted to the w/p and just bunged in chondrite. Impressive how Simon keeps trying to tease out whether there are other possibilities. Also interesting how often he thinks of the relevant bit (gis here early doors) but if you dont know the word nor a key bit of the w/p (lac) it makes it v v difficult to convince yourself it’s right. Glacis was utterly brutal. Having “got” the c I was convinced it had to be ace. I think I eventually gave up and looked it up. It’s because Simon struggles occasionally that makes these so so valuable - big thank from here

[@sarabearyt]

i enjoy these whether they’re hard or not! please keep recording these if you enjoy the solve :)

[@royston1928]

Good job Simon! Loved it. Tough one

[@TrekBeatTK]

I think the vivace clue is saying take “viva voce” and remove the V O (for very old). Not very old means no VO.

[@Frankacy40k]

Absolutely love these Simon! Please continue to make these videos, I learn so much every time

[@GeorgeFrideric71]

The battle makes it human and gives us mortals hope! So, yes, it/they are worth it! (Thank you).

[@timotab]

Please please please don't worry about the algorithm Love these videos. And you do yourself a disservice to claim that you can't really feel proud of completing it. It was exceedingly hard!

[@samspackman8750]

This was brilliant! Thanks Simon!!

[@clara931]

So happy to see another master class. Still not found a good beginner version. Keep forgetting to look when I visit the UK. No crosswords quite like this in my home nation/tongue

[@bones746]

You haven’t let anyone down……..I’d never finish that in a million years. Well done.

[@mr_enigma]

This was brutal, I know I would never have finished it. But as usual, I had a great time watching, so thanks!

[@richardlawrence6619]

Enjoyed watching that, thank you. Always good to learn a new word or two when doing crosswords (once cracked!) read up about chondrites and glacis for the future.

[@KestrelQ]

I swear I comment on these videos every week now but I'm 15 minutes in and you've already blown my mind! Maybe one day I'll pluck up the courage to try an easy cryptic crossword 😅

[@No-ln3qg]

These crosswords are WAY too British for my American brain. There's no way I could get a single answer let alone complete a puzzle. I really enjoy these videos and have watched every one since you started early this year (I think it was February, perhaps March). It's the first video I watch when I get home on Fridays! I think Maverick is in fact a leading aircraftman.

[@aljones27uk]

Please don’t be so hard on yourself and continue the Friday crossword puzzles as they are my favourite CTC videos - helping me improve at cryptics! CE = Common Era (secular equivalent of AD) LAC is a junior RAF rank but I wouldn’t have got glacis even with that!

[@Nanonude]

Let's face it, the crossword was an absolute stinker and , Simon, you should be proud that you were able to complete it successfully. Well done.

[@thomasspencer7823]

Leading air craftsman is abbreviated to ‘LAC’ and is a rank in the RAF (one of the only ranks you didn’t cycle through 😅) loved the thought process!

[@francesT5877]

Please continue with these I and others get a lot of hints and pleasure from them. I thought this was incredibly tough. And things that some people will get easily other simply don’t understand. I have never heard of a parkin. If this kind of puzzle was in the NYTimes I can imagine the comments page. I stopped reading the comments there.

[@MarcMcMillin]

excellent lesson in sticktoitiveness

[@Anne_Mahoney]

I've learned to spend my Friday evenings with these -- though this week my university was inaugurating a new president and I was at school late participating in a neo-Medieval ritual (in neo-Medieval costume, no less) so I didn't finish the crossword video until Saturday night. Worth waiting for! But, Simon, I'm always astounded when you don't know technical terms from music, like vivace. After all, you're a musician, and we've occasionally heard you play things other than rock riffs. Maybe treat yourself to a good music dictionary and browse around in it for a while? (And, speaking of neo-Medieval academic rituals, you're familiar with "viva" for an exam but don't know that the term comes from "viva voce," Latin for "out loud," whence drop V = very, O = old as other commentators have already pointed out.) 😺🎹

[@laurettadelmar2781]

I can’t believe I got ‘parkin’ before Simon. I might put that on my CV 😂

[@walterxplinge3867]

This has been one of the most difficult videos to watch, with Simon apologising for not being able to solve it with his usual aplomb. From the completed crossword it seems there was a lot of esoteric knowledge required to be able to solve it, and the word play in the clues was in some ways misleading. Bravo for persevering and completing it, even if there was some guesswork involved. I really enjoy all the content from CtC, and try to watch as soon as the videos are posted, although sometimes I have to park the occasional one for breakfast the next day.

[@Ferrastar]

I found the journey Simon took to find out the acronym of Leading Aircraftman was LAC to be slightly amusing

[@XdivineExp]

What's even funnier is that air commodore actually exists. From the wiki: "Air commodore is a senior rank in the air forces of the United Kingdom and other countries"

[@archivist17]

I'm very surprised this has never come up, as I've found so much military jargon in cryptics over the years. Mind you, compilers don't tend to come from the ranks of NCOs 😉

[@DontMockMySmock]

I'm always happy if I can get even a single clue faster than Simon. I got "PARKIN" almost immediately even though I wasn't sure it was actually a type of cake, it just sounded vaguely plausible

[@pokinDave]

Simon's pronunciation of vivace (should be vee VAH che) reminds me of a former roommate who had a huge vocabulary from reading but often had never heard the words spoken. He often had interesting pronunciations

[@MichaelLamparty]

A chondrite is a type of meteor, so it is definitely a visitor from space.

[@Mdonnell71]

Enjoy watching the solve and never feel disappointed from the length of video

[@patrickocallaghan3429]

Surely VIVACE is VIVA+CE, where CE refers to Common Era, i.e. "not very old" compared to BCE.

[@JustAnotherBuckyLover]

Simon, you are WAY too hard on yourself, both on this crossword specifically and on the sudokus in general. Seriously, you don't need to apologise for not getting everything instantly, or missing clues, or simply not knowing something. Nobody can know everything, and it's unreasonable to expect that you should. You finished this crossword, and that in itself is always an achievement, especially a fiendishly difficult cryptic one.

[@ridefast0]

Drinking game - take a drink whenever Simon enters the right answer by instinct then thinks himself out of it for a while! Wouldn't get very drunk though, it's very entertaining to see a master give a masterclass on such a tough example.

[@Pwecko]

It's strange. I got some of the words that Simon missed very quickly, including parkin and precis, but half of them I would never have got. Vivace is an Italian musical term and is pronounced viv-ah-chay.

[@bryanroland9402]

I used to love solving cryptic crosswords with friends and colleagues but now that I live abroad I don't get the chance. Watching these videos and actively solving along with Simon comes pretty close though. Please keep them coming. Simon is too hard on himself. Glacis is such an obscure word and I enjoyed the suspense at the end.

[@waynethomas7406]

You are assuming that enjoyment is inversely proportional to time of video, for me it is not (and I would guess the same for other viewers). The struggle is the fun. The moments that we can feel equal (ce not bce) and the moments we cannot (too numerous to mention). I had never solved a cryptic until I started to watch these, and now I have solved a few. Please do not stop these.