The Times Crossword Friday Masterclass: Episode 37

** TODAY'S PUZZLE **
In the 37th edition of our attempt to solve a Friday Times crossword, Simon takes on today's puzzle which has some great clues and some good memories!!
The puzzle is available to play on The Times crossword club website (which is behind their paywall):
www.thetimes.co.uk/puzzleclub...
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[@sebastienlecoq3956]

"Where is the V?" Me looking at his cursor, laughing my head off... Simon famous scanning talent.

[@Skamba]

A mandolin is a cutter type device that you can use in the kitchen to slice something thinly. Famous for also slicing fingers.

[@michaelpdawson]

When I would bring a (musical type) mandolin to an open mic, the host would always announce me as playing the "CHEESE mandolin."

[@azrobbins01]

I bought my first mandolin a couple years ago, and I am still afraid to use it. Every time I think about getting it out, I have visions of slicing off a thin layer of skin from my hand. I am sure it wouldn't happen, but it is enough fear to keep me from using it for the first time.

[@mxspokes]

​@@azrobbins01get yourself a cut resistant glove, in the meantime use the guard

[@BigAsciiHappyStar]

It also means we don’t get a quadruple song since N doesn’t rhyme with 3 🥺

[@yatagarasu1495]

After 37 Masterclasses, i finally got a word (accord) Proudest moment in my life

[@erinschloeffel]

I never get any, but today I got decriminalised and mandolin before Simon and felt like a genius 😂

[@finnkoepke2250]

17:47 Eve is not only a "woman" here, she is a "woman tempted".

[@clivenaylor5392]

The Pangram helped me with "THOUGH". I love these, especially the odd occasions when you can beat the whiz.

[@David_K_Booth]

3 down: having just written in ANT, I suppose DEC was the most likely month to come to mind.

[@lashers]

Retainer is indeed a servant, as in "Old Scrotum, the wrinkled retainer" in Vivian Stanshall's Rawlinson End.🤣

[@rhysbart]

Having seen Simon get excited about a possible Pangram after only a few clues, it was classic Simon Brain not to spot it until all the letters were there. Loved it, some fabulous words here.

[@longwaytotipperary]

Always look forward to these. You and Mark are still our heroes! Happy weekend everyone! 😃

[@rockhopper_penguin]

This is my favourite part of Friday. Thank you again Simon

[@johnhantsuk8461]

I'm always a bit surprised how quickly Simon gets the clues involving alcoholic beverages. I'd never heard of Zinfandel, nor gimlet from last week. Cheers!

[@amysteele2488]

Nicely done! One of very few occasions when I can recall getting two answers before you... 28 across and 5 down (which I got as soon as you put in the M) For show/lead... 'I was shown into the room' (meaning I was led into the room)

[@bryanroland9402]

E.g "The guests were shown/led out by their host." Love the crossword videos.

[@brycecrux2730]

with only a couple of the checking letters I was able to get "decriminalised" before you.... (probably the only time I've ever been able to say that for these crosswords). They continue to otherwise befuddle me entirely - please keep them up as the explanations really help me to learn more about how to solve them!

[@user-gs3nz8xj5x]

you're so entertaining Simon.... I love it when you say "Oh that's outRAGeous...... but it is actually correct" :-)

[@ahouyearno]

22 down is also a beautiful example of a clue that's in its entirety both the clue and the definition.

[@maoman4855]

I watch your sudoku videos regularly but this is the first time I've seen one of these cryptic crosswords... I have to say I am utterly bewildered by the staggering amount of wordplay required to parse the clues. I struggle with basic crosswords in the NYTimes for god's sake.

[@peterdunlop7691]

In Liverpool we tended to call marbles “ollies” which must be a regional variant of alleys.

[@jomurphy5112]

Nice one Peter, really hadn't put that together and I likes it. 👍

[@beemini3374]

The Veronica Speedwell novels are lots of fun too!

[@AngrySanta]

In the spirit of Buffalo, A neater maid polishes disinfectants or Cleaner cleaner cleaner cleaner

[@davidrattner9]

More lovely cryptic ness from you Simon during your solve of this! Without a doubt the most outstanding Friday tradition there is.

[@Frankacy40k]

Thanks for another wonderful crossword video!

[@michaelpdawson]

Interesting note in the definition that alleys are so called because they used to be made of alabaster.

[@elemenopy7605]

Thanks, Simon. I love these Friday Masterclass videos. These puzzles boggle my mind, but in a good way.

[@mjkluck]

Love the solves.

[@iaincook5835]

Pangram count. I was hoping for "That's P in the corner..."

[@Ruddigore]

I thought there were a couple of tough clues in this one. Well done solving it.

[@Anne_Mahoney]

A crossword video *and* a GAS video -- Fridays don't get any better than that!

[@BrianParente]

Another fantastic crossword video, thanks Simon!

[@Liamneedham29]

A couple of months back, while doing some genealogy research, I stumbled across a cryptic crossword in the Neath Guardian from 1978, and decided to attempt it. I don't do crosswords as often as I'd like, so it was a real challenge, but I can proudly say I finished it last week. Highly recommend hunting for old puzzles. Some really clever clues, a few things I had to google so not a perfect solve - like the fact that you can pronounce Magdalene as Maudlin? or Peal for ringing a bell. Only one clue I couldn't understand: Just as well to resort to it. [3] S_A ... (I went with Spa, because resort, but not sure how to justify it).

[@B1GB1RDB4G3L]

Truly love these videos, thanks Simon!

[@azrobbins01]

Always love these!

[@apiyo_puzzles]

Yeah my thought on led = shown was "The nurse will lead/show you to the waiting room" in which context they seem pretty much directly synonymous.

[@sehtdragon]

Very nicely done as always, Simon, and thank you. I must confess I do feel a little tingle of delight when I see an answer before you: I don't feel quite so stupid then! 🙂 By the way, for 27A, 'SPEEDWELL': the "Speedwell" was the second ship to set out on the Pilgrim Fathers' expedition alongside the "Mayflower". Most people haven't heard of her as she was found to be unseaworthy and was left behind when her more famous sister made the crossing in 1620. I thought you might be interested as it does give another level of punnery to 'expedition' in the clue.

[@JohnLeeShaw]

Hi Simon! Thanks for another fabulous masterclass! My commiserations that things did not go your way at the weekend, but you are still one heck of a cryptic crossword solver. I am sure that you will learn from your mistake this year, and your future efforts will be all the better for it. I've no doubt that the title will be yours one year (at least)! Have a nice weekend! 😀

[@daveperry7050]

14a is exactly where I started on this one, so I had a chuckle when Simon said he bets most people won't start there. I did then start looking at the downs and the two central long ones went straight in and I wished I'd looked at them first instread!

[@williambarnes3868]

The giant is GARGANTUA from the book by Rabellais. The fish being a GAR(FISH). Month of course AUG backwards. I think shown is used to mean shown the way, therefore LED. Mandolins are very sharp kitchen devices. Family Servant = RETAINER.

[@arthurcharest9061]

thanks simon, another fun friday solve

[@heatherallan9767]

thanks once again for the friday fun

[@richardwingrove953]

Zee? Zee? That'll be Zed, thank you very much! You're pretty much the most quintessentially British person on KZbin, we can't have you using Americanisms!

[@markrobinson8237]

I didn't think Blyth Power would help me to solve a crossword - "Philip, duke of Anjou, I'm happy to kneel beside you..."

[@MarcMcMillin]

happy Friday with a Crossword Masterclass! :-)

[@archivist17]

That was a fun one!

[@stevewood8]

Enjoyed watching the solve as ever - really appreciate these. The 'marble clue' was tough - try googling for the names of marbles, it's surprising just how many there are!

[@walterxplinge3867]

I think "led" is the past tense of "lead". There is an old musichall joke which goes "you can take a horse to water, but a pencil must be le(a)d"

[@Blackgrouse2010]

Shown = Led appeared again the next day in Saturday's prize puzzle

[@nfc153]

I'm still getting the ones Simon struggles with quickly, and struggling with what he finds obvious; AND learning new words. Figured I needed to go looking for Qs and Xs quite early on though, so I *am* learning!

[@wenstan333]

Love these - thankyou. As an aside - I went to a state grammar school in the north and was taught Latin in the first 3 years ( I dropped it like a red hot brick after that ). Can't solve a cryptic for toffee though.

[@benphelan88]

Here in Canada, the University of Ottawa’s mascot is the Gee-Gee, with a horse logo.

[@martinyyt]

Simon needs to brush up on his Scots or take a (golf) holiday up there. Last week it was kirkyard; this week it was jabot that caused some consternation.

[@lucasglanville2880]

ALLEYN stumped me at the end. Didn't know the actor or the meaning of marble so very little to go off

[@no-feetmcgee5577]

As someone who regularly constructs pangram grids, I know that P can be a strangely difficult letter to include... it's often one of the last I add in, along with the usual suspects Q, Z, X, J. No idea why that is, because as you said it feels like a fairly common letter!

[@danecarter5454]

“Lead the way” / “Show the way”

[@glum_hippo]

Collar is also a verb, as is 'ring' - might be even more apt than the nouns?

[@andymoss]

Dobbers, Donkers, and Alleys. Just to name a few marbsies …..

[@sarahlowes1501]

Mandolin is the straight edge halfway down the side of a box grater

[@Maenamburi1]

Once again an enjoyable watch and a good solve. Did I detect an element of wistfulness when you mentioned JAGS?

[@vinyl1Earthlink]

You're lucky you went to Dulwich, otherwise you'd have been totally stuck. On the other hand, I put in Gargantua right away....but unfortunately, the G looked like a C, so I had a had a difficult time with the obvious though, which held up the whole quadrant.

[@jarvisa12345]

35:57 The obvious way to stop your times being affected is to create a new user name.

[@trisha2584]

great video and even better I got decriminalised before Simon!!

[@nightwishlover8913]

"Jabot" Rhymes with "Chapeau" Or "Hallo" for any monoglots out there...

[@SirBradiator]

A Mandolin is used to cut vegetables for cookery

[@richardlyons7582]

Bit late for my Friday fix this week.

[@DaShikuXI]

So I looked at 4 across and though to myself "Is it embattled? Nah that's too long". Now I feel very silly.

[@lucifer.m]

I thought this would just be a normal crossword where you get the definition or an example and have to fill in a word or abbreviation. It is not, but reading the very chaotic, incomprehensible hints is honestly how it feels trying to solve a normal crossword for me.

[@stubbsz]

Missed the opportunity for the phrase, "I need a P"

[@DJColdCutz_]

The only letter I couldn’t find for a while was F as well. I was going to be very disappointed if the setter went through all the effort to include ZJQ and left out the F!

[@markcroxteth2108]

super

[@nightwishlover8913]

Good grief, Simon, what's your problem with 16 down?? Shown is led; upside down is del...and as for 9 down - first one I got - about 1 minute. Oh and Orly is not, strictly speaking, a suburb - it's a commune IN the Paris suburbs. I know this because I used to live there.

[@SomeRandomGuyOnYouTube]

Does "suburb" have a strict definition in the context of France? Otherwise, I dont' see how being a commune precludes Orly from also being a suburb.

[@nightwishlover8913]

@@SomeRandomGuyOnKZbinWikipedia agrees with me: "Orly is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France"...

[@sirieve]

What are the question marks indicating?

[@Math.Bandit]

Usually that there's a pun involved, or else that its a stretch.

[@sirieve]

@@Math.Bandit Aha! Great, thanks

[@plusjeremy]

Question mark also importantly indicates definition by example: “color” can be a clue for RED, but “red” can’t be a clue for COLOR because red is an example of a color. Acceptable clues for COLOR would be “red, for example”, or “red, say”, or “red?”.

[@plusjeremy]

uh I mean COLOUR I guess 😊

[@sirieve]

@@plusjeremy thanks a lot, makes sense

[@turtledruid464]

funny how I, as an american, got 9 down immediately. lots of decriminalization going on here

[@hedoverheels]

Might want to change the intro "reigning times crossword champion". 😬

[@daconor91]

Surprised you haven’t heard of a mandolin slicer but maybe I just watch too much Masterchef…

[@glum_hippo]

ooooh, I'm the 144th like!

[@Anne_Mahoney]

So it's now hip(po) to be square! 😸

[@glum_hippo]

@@Anne_Mahoney I do appreciate a good pun.