I say this every week but it bears repeating: "I say this every week but it bears repeating". 🙂

@ConManAU

Ай бұрын

I once set a cryptic that included the clue “Important: brown, black, grizzly, brown, black, grizzly (5,9)”.

Simon, it would be great if you made the clues larger and so easier to read (click on the gearwheel in the top righr and then click on "resize" once or twice, then click on the gearwheel again to make the menu go away)

As a Dutch person, my English isn’t half bad, but not in a million years would I be able to solve this. I have the greatest respect for anyone whose first language isn’t English who’s able to solve these crosswords.

@Raven-Creations

2 ай бұрын

It is a very British thing. Our history means our language has words from all over the world mixed in, many words derive from Latin and Greek, but there's also Norse, French, Indian, and several more. It means we have many words for the same meaning, and many meanings for the same word. We seem to discover and enjoy the ambiguity this causes from an early age. A simple clue is "Dead bird on branch (7,2)" Even such a simple clue requires knowledge of different words for branch, a reasonable knowledge of bird names, and euphemisms for being dead, which fans of the Dead Parrot Sketch will tell you are there are many.

@SonSafeSpace

2 ай бұрын

@@Raven-Creations for an English crossword yes, but I believe this ends up being a universal thing, because if you for example made a Japanese crossword, you end up with just as much complexity and wordplay if not more.

@MaxPower2719

2 ай бұрын

@@Raven-Creations In Dutch we have these puzzles as well, although we call them “cryptogram” because what we call a crossword is just a regular “here’s a description, find a word that means this”. I reckon to solve a puzzle like this if it’s not your first language is damn near impossible, unless maybe you have years of practice. For me, I’ll stick to the Dutch cryptograms 😉

@jpryan90

2 ай бұрын

English is my first language and I'd be lucky to get one clue lol

@MaxPower2719

2 ай бұрын

@@jpryan90 Well, fair enough 😂 I have the same with difficult Dutch “cryptograms”.

I think Simon kind of missed the joke in "busman's holiday," as a bus driver's job is literally "coming to a stop."

I have a very bad joke. A cowboy goes into a saloon. He orders a whisky. ' it's very quiet in here.' The barman says ' they're all at the hanging of paper bag Joe'. 'Why is he called Paperbag Joe's The barman replies' because he wears a brown paper hat, brown paper shirt, brown paper trousers and brown paper spurs' What's he getting hanged for? The barman replies ' rustling 😂

@limegreenelevator

2 ай бұрын

I'm stealing this... thanks for sharing!

Wonderful! Fridays wouldn't be the same without this fantastic romp through the cryptic challenge!

The yes part of 'yes and no' for "BUSMAN'S HOLIDAY" is when the busman is not on a vehicle stopping at bus stops. Very clever indeed.

I enjoyed Mark's masterclass last week and I welcome you back Simon! Happy belated birthday! 🙂

Thankyou as always for these. I learn so much from them.. I even found myself muttering “that’s outrageous” to a couple of clues on Wednesdays crossword

It’s a lovely day in the neighborhood and with Simon and cryptic crosswords- even happier! 😊. Plus - lovely singing!! 🎼

This is my happy place. Thank you Simon!

@longwaytotipperary

2 ай бұрын

Same! 😊

Some really nice clues today and great to watch Simon solving, as always. I was a little surprised to see the American spelling of castor though. Perhaps the setter had originally been on that NY-LON flight...

This parrot is no more. It has ceased to be. It’s expired and gone to meet its maker. This is a late parrot.

@TheFrogfather1

2 ай бұрын

beautiful plumage though.

Message for Algorithm: WE LOVE CRYPTIC CROSSWORDS ❤❤❤

Nice video as always! Cagliari (pronounced Calyari) is the capital of Sardinia.

Great solve Simon - some fantastic clues in there today - thank you

I suspect I got busman's holiday faster than I otherwise might, thanks to how much I loved the ITV quiz show of that name in the late 1980s. (I must have seen it on repeats, I'm sure I can't be that old.)

I’m so pleased with myself I managed to work out 2 clues! Thanks for the master classes, thoroughly enjoyed as always

Watched several of these in the last few days and I managed to solve the bulk of the guardians quick cryptic. Thanks for the advice there’s a different language to learn here but it’s very interesting

Thank you for the Crossword Solves! Always enjoy the content.

thank you for the videos

Every time I watch one of these, I’m reminded that even though I speak L1 English, so many of these clues are based on British cultural references that they’re basically impossible for English speakers from any other country. I’ve read British lit and watched British shows for 15+ years and it has not helped in the slightest. I do enjoy watching them, they’re clever and funny and Simon explains them very well, but they’re basically defacto region-locked games.

these puzzles and you being able to solve them so quickly boggles my mind

You know there will be singing when Oliver is mentioned.

I did enjoy this one. Thank you.

i watched that Oliver VHS so many times as a kid, although it was all dubed in French. Then when i was like 14 or 15 we went to London and the actual musical was being shown at west end somewhere, and we grabbed tickets for the same night and that was a blast. I couldn't understand everything of course at that time, but knowing the story by heart already that wasn't a problem.

@nemuchan

2 ай бұрын

also, This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late parrot!

@juliannicholls

Ай бұрын

If anyone asked me, I'd say 'I hate musicals'. So, why have I seen Oliver!, Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Avenue Q, and the Rocky Horror Show live???

Thanks!

That quick solve was amazing! You should do them as a short video once in a while.

This was quite a fun one to solve. I got 1A, 2D, and 3D instantly - the best start I've had in a TC. I also got 11A and 16A without a pause. There were a lot of very nice clues in this one. I particularly liked rosette, April Fool, busman's holiday, and nylon, even though I found them easy. Baaed, newscaster and spotty were quite amusing. The only one I struggled with was Cagliari - the wordplay was quite intricate, and I had no idea it was a port.

Two words there that I would have had a bit of a problem with. A nice solve.

Oh I do like a Friday crossword video though. Nice!! :)

Slartibartfast : Come. Come now or you will be late. Arthur : Late? What for? Slartibartfast : What is your name, human? Arthur : Dent. Arthur Dent. Slartibartfast : Late as in the late Dentarthurdent.... It's a sort of threat, you see. I've never been terribly good at them myself but I'm told they can be terribly effective.

Ay or aye as a word for yes reminds me of the old joke. Why is parliament like a painting by Picasso? Because it’s ayes to the right, and the nose to the left

Lovely video

🌱 thank you ✏✨

I think LON needs the extra explanation, because the airport codes for London airports are LHR, LGW etc, not LON. The same could be said for NY airports, of course, but there the abbreviation is often used, unlike Lon in London.

Brilliant

I got exactly ONE clue before Simon did. I think Monday crosswords might be more my speed.

There's another hidden word in "SQUASH ITEM" that's five letters long, as well as SUSIE Less polite though...

Historically, of course, the first Apollo mission was indeed tragically destroyed in a fire.

Vicious!

You can have HP = Horsepower so H=Horse and P=power; perhaps?

@limegreenelevator

2 ай бұрын

Generally you can't split abbreviations and take part of it for a single letter. (e.g. VIP = Very Important Person, but you can't use Important = I.) Power = P already works on its own, but I don't think Horse = H does.

Wasn't that "games" reference was to the company Toys "R" Us?

Genuine question from someone trying to get into cryptic crosswords: is there a reason for a clue to be ending in a question mark, and if so for what purpose?

@thescrewfly

2 ай бұрын

It often indicates either a homophone or a somewhat far-fetched (or punny) analogy. I expect there will be other uses too.

Having never heard the expression “mug up” before, I’ve now heard it in two cryptic crosswords in one month (the other time being the telegraph’s). There have been lots of other examples of answers coming up in multiple crosswords, and it’s not like they are topical or anything. Is this just coincidence? Or is there some sort of sharing / in-contest to write the best clue for a certain answer that leads to that answer appearing in multiple crosswords?

@danecarter5454

2 ай бұрын

Similarly, “username” was also an answer in the guardian quick crossword of the same day as this puzzle.

Latin "Vale" is pronounced "Vah-lay", just so you know.

@assassin01620

2 ай бұрын

You might already know this, and some people might argue against it, but I think that's the ecclesiastical latin pronunciation, whereas in classical Latin, it's pronounced like "wah-lay."

@davidcrisp5805

2 ай бұрын

@@assassin01620 Yeah, but if you're going properly Cicero you need to be pronouncing 'ave' with the W as well.

@thescrewfly

2 ай бұрын

Simon often apologises for having little knowledge of Latin outside of some common phrases and, oddly, ab initio (which he whips out more frequently than anyone I've ever encountered).

@assassin01620

2 ай бұрын

@@davidcrisp5805 correct. "Ave, true to Caesar." Lol But yeah, I think classical sounds cooler than ecclesiastical.

@davidcrisp5805

2 ай бұрын

@@assassin01620 Caesar was weeny, weedy and weaky.:P

I found this puzzle tough, and struggled for more than an hour. I should have been much quicker, but I kept getting a wrong idea about how a clue worked, and didn't discard it quickly enough. Is like me = as I? Yes, but that's not how the clue works Here in the US, we have the National Academy, and many US artists signed their paintings Artist Name, NA. OK, setters - American artist, anyone? PS - Look up the correct pronunciation of otiose - it's something like oceous.

@leeuwevdh

2 ай бұрын

Simon’s pronunciation of otiose is the common way to pronounce it in the uk I feel.

@ZonieMusic

2 ай бұрын

Unfortunately, most of the biggest cryptic crossword publishers rely heavily on British vernacular and acronyms specific to their society/institutions for clues.

Legitimately the first time I've gotten a cryptic clue before you... Atrocious! From your very teaching though.

Really hope that isn’t AI art.