The Times Crossword Friday Masterclass: Episode 5

** TODAY'S PUZZLE **
In the fifth edition of our attempt to solve a Friday Times crossword, Simon takes on today's puzzle - which is a bit of a beast but also contains several absolutely outstanding clues. This is a REALLY good crossword.
The puzzle is available to play on The Times crossword club website (which is behind their paywall):
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[@keithlewis7205]

As much as I like your Sudokus solves, I lhighly anticipate your solves of the Cryptic Crosswords. Please, please keep them coming!!

[@louisesuth8141]

Yves Klein is a french artist, famous for the most beautiful shade of blue, which I think Yves St Laurent used in his Morroccan garden

[@MichaelLamparty]

I can think of two cultural references to Yves Klein bottles. The first was a perfume bottle that Guerlain made. It was an art nouveau design and colored Klein blue. The other was a sculptured Klein bottle that was also Klein blue. It was hung up like a Pinata. It was by a Spanish artist, whose name is escaping me at the moment.

[@sheldoncelliers450]

Please never stop making cryptic crossword videos!! Absolutely love them😊

[@kristinecarroll5835]

I'm so excited to watch this. I have been loving this series. Thank you Simon!

[@moneyraymondottv]

Love these crossword videos.

[@orosma868]

I love these, an absolute joy on my chemo day. I especially love Simon's hangover brain which gives me the chance to get a few more before him because he's already given me the answer! (Phoenix, anyone?... and later, I think this one must have an x in it...I've already got it thanks to your earlier help, thank you Simon!). Made me smile so much.

[@kateatkinson4930]

Best wishes for the smoothest chemo possible! I used to have chemo on Fridays, too :)

[@HonkeyKongLive]

I subscribed for sudoku but these have turned into my favorite. I'm still learning how they work and this is a fantastic way to do so.

[@AndersAstrand]

I think hungover Simon should appear more often. He's slow enough so that even I, as a non English native, can yell some of the words at the screen 😂.

[@minorasimulator]

I haven't finished the video yet, but the way he said the "not quite saying" clue I'm screaming at the screen! I hope I'm right!

[@digitig]

Yes, I've never beaten him to anywhere near so many!

[@sebastianturner2458]

I like the sudoku videos because I can actually usually comprehend them, so far I haven't learned enough about these to have them not still be like watching a magic trick, but they're a _really_ cool magic trick.

[@digitig]

You probably need to look at some easier cryptic crosswords being solved. Simon only does the really difficult ones, so a gentler introduction might be needed!

[@charliejoseph6465]

There was a quadruple definition in the Times Jumbo crossword on Saturday. "Just show decent objective" gave the answer "fair".

[@barghast]

I'm really enjoying seeing regular cryptic crossword solves!

[@de8o]

My new favourite feature for Fridays.

[@GordonjSmith1]

I must be learning something, I got a number of them including roustabout, surgical and statin! Bring it on! Really enjoying these Friday puzzles.

[@emilywilliams3237]

As always, I enjoy the cryptic crosswords - despite being so unfamiliar with them. However, I am learning, I think!! Thank you, Simon.

[@tricycle222]

I joined Cracking the Cryptic to learn more about Cryptics. I enjoy watching some of the sudoku puzzles you present, but hope to see more cryptics on your channel. This Friday Series is great.

[@theskyisteal8346]

I'm awful at cryptic but I am happy to say I got "rosary" almost as soon as you read the clue. It doesn't help that I initially thought the definition was actually "turning beads." The first image that pops into my head when thinking of turning beads is a nervous film character fiddling with their rosary. From there I worked backward and realised that turning was part of the wordplay instead.

[@stephenoliver6346]

I love these videos!! Please keep them up.

[@martinwilson5210]

I am impressed that you managed to finish, your ability to use wordplay is really educational for those of us who are learning the art.

[@grenvillephillips6998]

A fine lesson in how the clues can be more obscure than the answers - great stuff.

[@longwaytotipperary]

❤ these! Good news that you got to your golf dinner and it was enjoyable! Really appreciate that Simon takes the time to explain each clue. I learn so much from these videos! If ever confronted with this very same puzzle again, I think I could remember how to parse most of them. Different clues would require another video session…😁

[@davidrattner9]

Always makes my weekend off to a great start!! 😁

[@longwaytotipperary]

@@davidrattner9 ditto 😃

[@Jablicek]

Lovely to see how you perked up over the course of the solve. Hope you manage to get a nap in today. 14D was, indeed, an absolute corker!

[@ChrisRemo]

Love these, glad it’s become a regular series! 9ac also eluded me for ages-I got it from the crosses and definition, but the wordplay was utterly mystifying. Finally twigged it and it was so clean it didn’t justify any annoyance!

[@jodyvanliew2514]

Very impressive solve on this one Simon .

[@Ulija100]

Fabulous! I'm certainly learning from these Friday videos and the more clues I know how to start, the more intriguing it gets.

[@davidrattner9]

Constant joy and love from seeing these every Friday! Appreciate Simon going above and beyond to explain how he gets each answer! Makes a great start to the weekend!

[@crhodgkin]

I am thoroughly enjoying the Cryptic Crossword videos, so I hope these specials continue as a series, in addition to the Sudoku videos. 🙂

[@jmbverlag]

After Biffa the second channel which features a sip of tea in its videos. I like.

[@zerocutt1650]

Another wonderful session. I have a talent for seeing the solutions quickly but much less skill in seeing how the wordplay works. Being able to watch and listen to your outstanding abilities in finding answers simply from the wordplay when you get stuck is of immense value for me as a relative newcomer to cryptic crosswords. Roustabout was a perfect example of your inspirational wordplay analysis. I also took much inspiration from the way you reacted when up against it, getting there in the end!

[@tonyroberts3926]

This was great! Simon solving through a hangover means I can solve about half these before he does This should be a continuing feature. Maybe, like the hilarious "Drunk Shakespeare" shows that were put on in the Leicester Square Theatre, you could solve the next one while getting seriously sozzled - I usually do. It does tend to take a long time though, and might require the occasional sleep break

[@PotmosHetoimos]

I am nowhere near being able to solve one of these myself, but I’ve watched enough of Simon’s solves that I’m beginning to understand how to read the clues. I was able to shout a couple of answers at the screen (like ogle and statin)!

[@archivist17]

I first came across the long word beginning with R as an Elvis movie! 😄

[@longwaytotipperary]

Thanks! I remembered the word but couldn’t remember from where - it was the Elvis movie!

[@RSDonovan]

More Times Cryptics please 🙏

[@chris_wicksteed]

This is the first time I managed to complete a Friday crossword without any form of outside aid, so I'm rather pleased with myself - particularly as it just qualifies for the top level of difficulty as defined by the SNITCH ranking.

[@cathybryant5119]

Clearly watching these videos is improving my skills, as I got 5 words before Simon - a record for me. Of course, Simon's hangover probably boosted that count by at least 2!

[@B1GB1RDB4G3L]

Needed this today. Thank you Simon

[@MichaelLamparty]

Obviously Simon's cholesterol numbers are good, otherwise he would not had any trouble immediately coming up with the word "STATIN."

[@benphelan88]

The circus men in Dumbo sing about being roustabouts.

[@st0rmforce]

The very few times I work out a clue before you, makes me feel like a complete genius. Although if I was hung over I don't expect I'd get any. Really surprised you didn't know 24 across. No idea how I knew the word, but it's one that's in the dictionary of obscure words in my head.

[@Anne_Mahoney]

These are such fun! I was at a conference this weekend and was delighted to find both a GAS video and a cryptic crossword video waiting when I got home. I even got a couple of the clues somewhat faster than Simon (well, once you'd given me some checking letters to start from).

[@cloudbringer104]

The first of me hearing about the word roustabout was from the film Dumbo. The labourers are singing when they set up the tent. Thank you for the weekly bonus. I'm really enjoying them. I'm so glad you got to enjoy your golf dinner.

[@darrellbrindley6029]

It was the movie “Roustabout” that came to my mind, good old Elvis movie. He worked in a carnival if I recall correctly and I just morphed it to mean any kind of labourer.

[@uncluckable6535]

The Vatican Rag is probably my favorite Tom Lehrer song. 10/10 would recommend.

[@Moonbrony]

Yay! I knew a word before Simon for once, can't believe he left roustabout until almost last

[@michaelpdawson]

I’ve heard of “rabble rout,” but I think of it as a very archaic expression. The best part of this was Simon coining the word “lambshackle”!

[@richardfarrer5616]

I knew roustabout from the circus labourer so I got their first and guessed it applied to oil rigs too. And I think the (after)effects of drinking may have been showing when Simon didn't think of "laity" for parishioners sooner, or get "cream bun".

[@DaShikuXI]

That rosary clue is fantastic

[@darreljones8645]

I had heard the word "roustabout" before. I follow the history of popular music, and "Roustabout" (used in the circus-worker sense) was the name of a 1964 Elvis Presley movie.

[@Melissa_Hz]

I kind of loved the whole cream egg thing. Those are my all time favorite, saw some today while shopping and had to grab them. Kinda wish it had been that! 😂

[@JonCookeBridge]

It took you being hungover for me to beat you to a clue. It’s fun shouting an answer at you, unheard, while you think aloud. “Hanky in to uniform” (5,3)

[@th.nd.r]

That was such a wonderful cryptic crossword! Well set and well solved. Also, no need to hold back your sneeze!! If you have to sneeze, sneeze! If it ends up sounding unpleasant, you can just take that bit of audio out in post :)

[@CharlieGrant88]

Rev. Hogan gives reason for Simon's slow solve (8) . . . . . . . . HANGOVER

[@amoswittenbergsmusings]

Rev. Hogan's confusion slows Simon down (8) You needed an anagram indicator - but the idea is brilliant!

[@CharlieGrant88]

“confusion” is the indicator

[@onion013]

Tough Cryptics on Cracking the Cryptic! We are blessed! :D

Tom Lehrer's lyrics are always appreciated!

[@davidkay6655]

Wow roustabout knowing a word Simon doesn't makes me feel less thick than I normally feel when watching Simon solve crosswords 😅

[@NathanParmar]

33:54 Meshach is the 3rd fire survivor you were trying to remember!

[@josephblack2757]

Both surgical "operations" both take place in "theater" as well!

[@Raven-Creations]

I struggled with this one. The clues were mostly great, but fiendish in their wordplay. I really liked phoenix, rooftop, and rosary, for their unusual but very fair construction. I don't know how you couldn't get opt (zero pint), especially since you had the first and last letters. I got choosy, opt, surgical, and phoenix straight away. Umpteen took a tad longer, because I was looking for something including opr. Once I had the X from phoenix, I could parse the laxity clue. I liked ramshackle, with its misleading wordplay. I've only heard roustabout used for ship hands and dockers, but apparently they're used on rigs too. I needed a few letters before I got that one. I only knew that word because Josie Lawrence used it in the very funny improvised BBC radio drama series The Masterson Inheritance. I needed all of the crossing letters to get statin, although I should have got that much earlier. Sweetbread was a nice, but very tricky clue. Yves Klein was a French artist. That was very sneaky use of bottle to introduce the misleading wordplay.

[@yummers2001]

The song the workers sing in Dumbo when erecting the circus is called the Song of the Roustabouts and goes: We work all day, we work all night We never learned to read or write We're happy-hearted roustabouts

[@michaelbaker9347]

ramshackle might be clue of the month, if not clue of the year. it's surface was brilliant!

[@chris_wicksteed]

I struggle to see what there is to like about that clue! The surface was both awkward and nonsensical, the definition of 'rams' was laboured, and lasagne only has a crust on one side!

[@henrycrun42]

When you have been taking 22 down for as long as I have the answer came easily.

[@robinstyles9997]

Excellent!!!

[@stephenshipley1066]

Very enjoyable. If you were old enough to be taking a statin daily you would probably be old enough to have watched Dallas and picked up roustabout. Maybe I even picked it up from Circus Boy back in the 60s with the young Mickey Dolenz.

[@billsimoni]

Every once in a while I get a single answer before Simon - today was “statin”. Never got two before - “roustabout”

[@joeg451]

Roustabout is tricky. I saw the word fit but I was only familiar with the circus worker definition, so I was assuming "rabble" was the definition and was trying to figure out the wordplay of "oil rig labourer"

[@bruzie900]

Didn't read your Adrian Mole? :) That's the only time I've come across 24A.

[@juliannicholls]

I got a number of these before Simon. Maybe not before he explained the clue in each case, to be fair. I got statin and roustabout (I've only heard that as an American word), cream bun came very early for me, and surgical, for sure

[@CycleMantis]

I feel I've seen roustabout merely once in my life before, though I couldn't guess where

[@Michael75579]

Pleased I managed to get cream bun, roustabout, surgical, statin and laxity before Simon, although I think cream bun is the only one I'd definitely have got without some letters from other clues to help.

[@jamiegrant9076]

"Unceremonious!? HOHOHOHOOOOOOOO"

[@aucourant9998]

I knew roustabout from a film starring Elvis Presley. The story was set in a circus.

[@HalcyonAcorn]

Had to laugh at 5 across, got it way before Simon, mainly because when he said ingredient in plaster, I said gypsum because I’m a construction worker!! Don’t ask me about the other clues though!!

[@sh4dowchas3r]

There was only really 2 options for the Oil Rig Labourer, roughneck or roustabout, and roughneck is too short and doesn't have an s in the middle. A cryptic clue like that probably contains more usable info than the general -knowlege / -vocab Times 2 crossword equivalent would. Obviously it helps when you know the word to start with.

[@PerMortensen]

Only due to the hangover (and occasional prompting from him, that he didn't follow up on) I'm sure, but I managed to get a full five words before Simon. I'm usually totally lost or get maybe one. Surgical, roustabout, stopgap, cream bun and ogle. This never happens.

[@thedrunkenelf]

21:55 as soon as I saw turning beads I think rosary or rotary but I’m not sure how they fit with the clue

[@BryanLu0]

OPT - settle as in choose O for empty and PT for pint??

[@davidh.4944]

I really have very little interest in cryptic crosswords, but I surprised myself by figuring out 1A straight away. "Out of place" indicates an anagram, "crab menu" is the phase to be decoded, and the result is something that doesn't fit a seafood theme. After that it just took a minute or so of trying out combos to find the proper fit.

[@mmmmmratner]

Simon showing off that he hasn't been prescribed statins

[@michaeldubery3593]

Statin was the only one I got on first glance

[@johnsouza4391]

Roustabout, rabble rouser, rowdie

[@andyleighton3616]

Very hard crossword this week I thought. I thought that rout being a synonym for rabble was hard. I knew the word roustabout though so got the clue without knowing the synonym.

[@pegpelvispete]

Simon has forgotten his LOTR! The Mouth of Sauron refers to the forces of Gondor as both a "rabble"" and a "rout" in one insulting tirade

[@archivist17]

You don't have a butler?!? 😮😂

[@thedrunkenelf]

Everyone who has seen the original Dumbo knows the word Roustabout, there is a song about them in it!

[@archivist17]

You really are hung over! Most clues I've ever got faster than you! 😂 Hope the worst symptoms have passed.

[@SpencerTwiddy]

Spoiler Shield🛡️

[@stimpyueediot]

Simon another word for an oil field worker is a Roughneck

[@imperiallegionnaire8344]

Editor, ask after mother into curses

[@radd1865]

Love these cryptic crossword videos, though as a Yank half of both the clues and answers are both nonsense to me. That's half the fun of it, really!

[@kuchcyk]

There was a film 'Roustabout' starring Elvis Presley, no less!

[@stimpyueediot]

is it just on my side or do the crossword clues look fuzzy?

[@erickehr4475]

I mean this in the kindest possible way, but this was a great advert for a life of sobriety, as you were so far from your normal skill level!

[@louisesuth8141]

though his cholesterol levels must be okay!

[@erickehr4475]

@@louisesuth8141 or is that statin’ the obvious

[@williambarnes3868]

Roustabout, statin and opt. Surprised that you took so long to figure these out.

[@maxnokhrin697]

Calvin Klein and YSL have a line of perfumes out.

[@nightwishlover8913]

"Oggle"????? It's Oh-gle, surely?

[@SomeRandomGuyOnYouTube]

Strange surfaces in this one. I don't know what a lamb chop lasagne is, and I'm not sure I want to find out. Meanwhile, it's not clear to me how a musical "collection" could carry an organ, if that's what the surface is saying. Maybe "musical ensemble" would make more sense.

[@stimpyueediot]

not first