The Times Crossword Friday Masterclass: 15 March 2024

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** TODAY'S PUZZLE **
In the 57th edition of our attempts to solve a Friday Times crossword, Simon tackles today's puzzle which is, if we do say ourselves, pretty tough! Lots of intricate wordplay and vocab required - we love it!!
The puzzle is available to play on The Times crossword club website (which is behind their paywall):
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Опубликовано:

21 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 84

@andrewgrant6516 6 месяцев назад

It's hard to spot ortolan backwards when you don't know it's a word going forwards!

@SolarEquinox 6 месяцев назад

I knew about ortolans because of an episode of the Hannibal tv show where Hannibal and Will eat them. eating and hunting them, iirc, has been banned in a lot of countries

@longwaytotipperary 6 месяцев назад

@andrewgrant6516 exactly!!!😁

@longwaytotipperary 6 месяцев назад

Time to be introduced to words I’ve never heard of, clued by phrases that make no sense to me. And I ❤it and look forward to it every week. 😁

@PedroOhPedro 4 месяца назад

Just love listening to and looking at the handsome Simon.😊

@matthewjoyce1849 6 месяцев назад

Arthur Rackham is famous for fairy-related illustrations amongst other forms across forty years; he mixes watercolours, line drawings and silhouettes in his work. You might know his versions of Wind in the Willows, Grimm's Fairy Tales or Gulliver's Travels perhaps. His style, developed for the capabilities of printing at the time, is very easy to recognise.

@AO968 6 месяцев назад

22:33 Bombay cats are shot-haired cats with fully black glossy fur and black skin (meaning even the nose, mouth, and inner ears are black). Also, their eyes are exclusively copper-gold, making them look like miniature black panthers. These are beautiful cats, very social, and make ideal family pets.

@Anne_Mahoney 6 месяцев назад

wow, that sounds like a gorgeous cat, even by cat standards! 😺💚

@DarklordZagarna 6 месяцев назад

My old cat Napoleon was a very similar kind of American shorthair-- all black with yellow eyes. He was a handsome devil when he wasn't overweight.

@valentinagambetti167 6 месяцев назад

Forgetting what day of the week it is and being reminded by Simon’s masterclass is priceless!

@geoffh2560 5 месяцев назад

one of the great pleasures of these videos is the opportunity to shout 'CAR BOOT SALES' at the screen for a full 25 minutes.

@annastevenson27 6 месяцев назад

My fav YT video of the week! I read 15 down as PEP (go) + PERON (a revolutionary = Eva Peron) + I (number one) = PEPPERONI.

@laurasmith2173 5 месяцев назад

It was very interesting to watch. It was also interesting, for me, that I actually got three of the clues. I usually find crosswords confusing.

@gunnersfan111 6 месяцев назад

As someone who's literally just started trying to get into Cryptic Crosswords after watching Dave Gorman's video this is great to watch. A tough one for sure, so much random vocabulary that you need, the various abbreviations for things are taking a while for me to get my head around as well. Really good video though, and the clues were explained perfectly as well, great to see the thinking that goes into deciphering clues.

@d4r4butler74 6 месяцев назад

This was another great Crossword week! Thank you!!

@davidrattner9 6 месяцев назад

Thank you Simon for another fabulous solve and more splendid explanations!!!

@CineMiamParis 6 месяцев назад

Could Simon be the rare British person who doesn’t like gardening? Intercropping is also associating two crops in the same plot or planter. Like planting basil around a tomato plant to bring it nitrates and chase away pests. Also, rhizome - just bury a piece of ginger in soil and never buy ginger again. Now if only I was as comfortable with cryptic crosswords as with gardening… Got maybe 5 words on this one. Thanks Simon, a joy always.

@thescrewfly 6 месяцев назад

A lot of British people these days seem to want to concrete over any area that could be made into a garden. Got to put the car(s) somewhere.

@CineMiamParis 6 месяцев назад

@@thescrewfly That’s a disappointment and a half.

@CrackingTheCryptic 6 месяцев назад

I do like gardening but I'm not very good at it :)

@jkid1134 6 месяцев назад

@@CrackingTheCrypticshould be a breeze now that you know about intercropping and rhizomes by the way, the couple you couldn't source, the painter rackham and the cat breed bombay, fall handedly and to much satisfaction to Google images

@qwazimodoreper 6 месяцев назад

no simon, let's not move on, we want to hear that stories from university

@Bronco541 3 месяца назад

Just be sure to remind him about it every so often

@Anne_Mahoney 6 месяцев назад

Always the high point of the week -- I'm starting to build Fridays around these videos.

@thescrewfly 6 месяцев назад

Arthur Rackham is certainly a very well known illustrator. I'm sure Simon would recognise anything by him as soon as he saw it.

@mjkluck 6 месяцев назад

Cryptic Friday. Gotta love it.

@purplejanew 6 месяцев назад

My first video by you and what a superb explanation for every clue! Could the ginger clue be related to Red-head?

@chris_wicksteed 6 месяцев назад

I've got 'The Oxford Book of Tudor Anthems' open nearby, and I confirm that they are tremendously more likely to be sung in a chancel than in a stadium!

@romac9516 6 месяцев назад

Superb once again thanks Simon. Lordy that was a super-tough one.

@euanmurray3676 6 месяцев назад

Another fabulous Friday treat, thanks Simon! A record for me today: four clues solved before you - definitely getting better with the weekly practice!

@debrabowen4276 6 месяцев назад

Thank you! Love these videos!

@ColinStiles-o9r 6 месяцев назад

Always astounds me how Simon can do these in one sitting and how people can do sub 10 minute times. I was chuffed to finish it over a couple of days with several return visits!

@ashleyjordan8869 6 месяцев назад

Favourite moment was when the clock was chiming, and Simon says “somethings ringing a bell” 36:35

@MarcMcMillin 6 месяцев назад

Loved this weeks puzzle solve!

@arthurcharest9061 6 месяцев назад

thanks for the solve simon!

@stevewood8 6 месяцев назад

Phew, that was a tricky one. Well done to Simon for getting there in the end - most impressive, and entertaining as always.

@louisesuth8141 6 месяцев назад

much enjoyment as ever

@donainscough6598 6 месяцев назад

Another reason to look forward to Friday, as if one were needed 😎

@davidharris8496 6 месяцев назад

'Anthem' is used in Anglican church music as a general term for a piece sung by the choir in a service - e.g. during communion, or at Evensong, at the point at which the Book of Common Prayer says: "In quires and places where they sing, here followeth the anthem".

@lin4579 6 месяцев назад

Thanks, brilliant

@razzzzzzd 6 месяцев назад

Thanks

@martinopanevino5705 6 месяцев назад

i thought the revolutionary might be eva peron, i guess it works both ways... great solve as always, i couldnt fathom doing that in 7 mins

@whirledpeas5717 6 месяцев назад

I agree! Just reading all the clues would take a bit as you have to pay attention to all words, not just scan them. Then the time to fill in the letters of the answeres.

@heatherallan9767 6 месяцев назад

🌱thank you ✏✨

@JamesWilliams-ms5wk 6 месяцев назад

My streak of learning new British terms is intact

@Carpetf 6 месяцев назад

when it's a 50 minute cryptic video you know it'll be good

@koura7883 6 месяцев назад

Champers also sounds like chompers, which is synonymous with biters. probably a bit of a reach.

@Raven-Creations 6 месяцев назад

I got car-boot sales straight away, which was a big help, and made the puzzle much easier. I didn't really struggle with any of the clues, so I guess I was just on the same wavelength as the setter. It also played to my rather eclectic set of interests. I wouldn't have beaten Mark's time, but his brain does seem to have a very efficient filing system, whereas mine is in need of a good secretary to put it in order. I thought you might struggle with tallies, based on other crosswords. Thankfully, I know of Tallis thanks to Vaughan Williams' stirring Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, so it was an obvious clue for me. I had to look up Arthur Rackham, who was indeed an illustrator. Like you, I only got that from the word play. Saddo was quite amusing. I was wondering if your slightly staid dictionary included it.

@DarklordZagarna 6 месяцев назад

Wiktionary has "saddo," so I guess it's en fleek.

@fruitshuit 6 месяцев назад

Thanks for the video! I do wonder if it might be better for the algorithm if you swapped episode numbers for dates? People might be less likely to click on "episode 57" of a series they've never watched.

@CrackingTheCryptic 6 месяцев назад

Good idea. Thanks!

@craftsmanwoodturner 6 месяцев назад

Between me loading the page and now, the title has changed to the date! Good comment.

@0morph 6 месяцев назад

In addition to these masterclass videos, have you considered doing something like starterclass episodes? I never miss an episode of these, but the Friday cryptics are hard puzzles, and accessing them requires a subscription. Might there be an audience for videos of easier and more accessible cryptics, like for instance The Guardian's Monday quiptic? As a non-native English speaker who has only got into cryptics in the past year thanks to your videos, it usually takes me a full week to tackle Guardian's quiptic, but I'm immensely proud of myself whenever I can do it. It would be fun to sit down on Sunday afternoons with last Monday's quiptic nearly solved in my lap and watch you go through it and explain what's going on.

@queenofroses09 6 месяцев назад

I'd second this! I need something like a kids' version of cryotics to get started.

@Harrizeb 6 месяцев назад

I would certainly be interested in a more accessible crossword break down.

@tchpowdog 6 месяцев назад

Every time I watch these videos, I seem to be left with questions that I would like to ask you. For example, what are all the scenarios where a question mark (?) would be used? I think it would be cool if these were a live solve where you could engage with chat. Would that be appealing to anyone?

@Draedaja 6 месяцев назад

That first clue is already cracking me up. Hearing a sentence like "I've got to hide 'short' in my beers and my outdoor markets..." will never not be funny to me.

@DarklordZagarna 6 месяцев назад

Although it didn't turn out to be the right answer here, I'm now thinking about the homophone/pun between "inquire" and "in choir" (literally, where one might sing). I suppose one could come up with a clue like "Look into where one might sing, it's said" to make use of that.

@MattSwain1 5 месяцев назад

I’m learning a lot from these videos but they don’t encourage me to tackle the Times crossword - there’s just too many words that I don’t know!

@erickehr4475 6 месяцев назад

This clearly demonstrates how a Cryptic crossword can be much easier than a plain crossword with the same answers. Without the wordplay to help, that would have been almost impossible.

@DarklordZagarna 6 месяцев назад

Well, most regular crosswords would be exponentially harder if half the letters were only used in a single word-- you'd have to run the table on clues to get them all. Here, the cryptic definition is acting as a kind of second-chance at getting the answer, and Simon pretty regularly manages to deduce answers that are words not in his (or, in many cases, just about anyone's) vocabulary.

@williambarnes3868 6 месяцев назад

Arthur Rackham, illustrator . 8a = Plastic. 19a= bitter without a t.

@peterbiddlecombe1939 6 месяцев назад

2D is interesting in relation to the sometimes expressed view that every word in a clue needs to be essential. "Where one might sing anthem's opening line" could be just "Where one might sing opening line", and the clue would still work. So "anthem's" is not vital - it just makes the clue read better, especially if you know about church buildings and music. Personally, I have no problem with strictly unnecessary words or something like "a building" indicating "church".

@AngrySanta 6 месяцев назад

I had an amusing clue in one I did recently. Scrambles Scrambles, Scrambles! (9)

@annastevenson27 6 месяцев назад

Clambers. Fun clue!

@BryanLu0 6 месяцев назад

A clue I thought of today: Don't assist the needy (8) Or Without assistance for the needy (8)

@JoQeZzZ 6 месяцев назад

An anthem is a type of religious song in the C of E

@kevinmartin7760 6 месяцев назад

For 15D I though this might refer to (Juan) Peron as a revolutionary (in Chile IIRC). That makes the rest of the wordplay work better.

@n8style 6 месяцев назад

With 15 down I'd thought it would be talking about Juan from Argentina? 🤔

@guruone 6 месяцев назад

Simey failed to notice the symmetry of this puzzle. Probably explains why the clues were a bit left of center :PPPP

@johnsouza4391 6 месяцев назад

Does 15 down not reference the Argentinian Peron? Were Juan or Eva revolutionaries?

@SnugglesPlays 6 месяцев назад

Brilliant as usual Simon. I need some help with a cryptic clue that I've got the answer to, but can't for the life of me figure out the wordplay....can you or someone explain it please? Opposition's one timid sheep at heart by the sound of it. (5) The answer is ENEMY but how you get that from "one timid sheep by the sound of it" is a mystery to me! 🙂

@thomasbrassington 6 месяцев назад

The heart of one, timid and sheep is N, M and E, which sounds like enemy.

@VonBlade Месяц назад

39:01 Speaking on behalf of all the people who were nerds when it wasn't cool to be a nerd, and are still uncool because what is populist nerdism isn't us, I'm happy to be in the saddo collective.

@kurohone 6 месяцев назад

Re: 16 across, any farmer would have gotten that one quickly. Back to your roots! (literally!)

@Newbsauce 6 месяцев назад

My caveman brain can't even begin to start these. Well done!

@nitinunnava6388 6 месяцев назад

To be fair, even Indians don't really use pice often lol. We use paisa (paise is the plural) if we even use the word. I think pice might be the british transliteration, like how people use Bombay instead of Mumbai

@iwishexamsneverhappened 6 месяцев назад

Nice

@marcrivoira2916 6 месяцев назад

In Pepperoni - would Per come from For as in "for each" - the literal Italian translation

@garymacmillan6401 6 месяцев назад

Arthur Rackham, one assumes

@mycroft64089 6 месяцев назад

He is British illustrator and his style is very recognizable

@garymacmillan6401 6 месяцев назад

Thanks. I thought I recognized the name.@@mycroft64089

@vinyl1Earthlink 6 месяцев назад

Yes, it helps to have heard of Arthur Rackham, and to know pice. But car-boot sales should have been a write-in for an English solver. As a US solver, I didn't have too much difficulty with this one.