What a privilege to get a peek into Mark's mind as he solves these crosswords. The ease with which his brain parses the clues and how he's able to delve into deep, dark areas of his extensive vocabulary to piece together the solution is so inspiring! I can't still believe how he solved 5D which is so complex that an intermediate solver like myself wouldn't even know where to start and which Mark solved with very few crossers
There's something interesting I've noticed about the way Mark describes his vocabulary. It's not just that he knows a lot of words, it's that he has a really good memory for where and when he learned them. So this allows him to assign quality estimates to all his knowledge and adjust how certain he should feel about any given conclusion. Extremely interesting to have that sort of explicit and accessible knowledge about a process that most people do implicitly.
Great solve. it is fun to see Mark do one of these in addition to the Monthly Club specials on Patreon. Good luck to Simon in his golf tournament. We need him back next week to tell us that we can't abbreviate any word unless it is supported by the dictionary. :)
Otherwise we might forget! (But in all seriousness I do appreciate Simons dedication to helping new solvers, both in sudoku and the crosswords - it will always be the first video for someone!)
I love these Cryptic Masterclasses - fascinating, and really and truly, they are making more and more sense to me each week. I loved your reference to Ravel's Bolero as being what Torvill and Dean ice-danced to in the 1984 Winter Olympics. That performance for a gold medal, along with their required dance of the Cape Dance, were mesmerizing to me. I am not sure that, before that year, I had ever been impressed by ice dancing, but they were on another plane compared to the competition.
Happy 100 Cryptic Crossword Masterclasses. I'm a latecomer to watching the series but I enjoy Mark and Simons solves of these amazing wordplay clues. Cheers
Wishing Simon Luck with golfing! YAY!!! Mark does the 100th Crossword!! AND it is a Pangram! Funny that Road Craft is the only stumbling block in your solve... I knew instantly what a Land Yacht is (it is a large car, like a 1960s or 1970s sedan), but I would still not have gotten the answer. Not that most of these words are strange, I knew most of them, but I would never be able to solve the Cryptic. Even the Hidden...
I found this puzzle very difficult and struggled for over an hour to finish - and then Mark comes around, and makes it look so easy. I would imagine Simon would have least gotten stuck once or twice. And Simon would be nothing to my experience of blundering around for 66 minutes, although I did put in a number of answers instantly.
Hilarious - nearly every week Simon suspects the puzzle is a pangram and it turns out not to be (I think setters deliberately put a 'Z' or 'J' in Friday puzzles just to get Simon excited), and then Mark gets one!
It’s an interesting question as to how hard that crossword was. The SNITCH rating had it as “very hard”, if not quite as hard as some previous Fridays, but I, for one, found it significantly easier than the last few Fridays. I think there are two basic ways a clue can be hard - very cunning wordplay, or a very obscure answer (or both, of course). And whereas cunning wordplay probably slows everyone down to an extent, how obscure an answer is will vary from solver to solver. I think most of the clues today were pretty straightforward, but a lot of the words were unusual. If you’ve heard of Malayalam, Corot, potoroos, mason wasps etc, you’ll be OK, if you haven’t you might struggle.
A bonus, bonus video from Mark today, after the accidental upload of an extra Sudoku last night.* Good luck in the tournament Simon! *just got to the end, so I guess it's not a bonus at all! A very enjoyable solve all the same.
100th video - what a great excuse to remind folks that the Sunday Times crossword is 100 years old this weekend, and as well as an article about that, there will be a some older puzzles to try.
Congratulations on reaching 100! I've watched them all and have begun attempting cryptics myself (with mixed success.) One type of clue always confuses me - when 2 clues form a single sentence with elipses... They never seem to appear in these videos, is that just an editorial choice by the times? Are they meant to be solved separately, and just paired together to read better, or are you meant to read them as one clue with a two word answer? Any help appreciated, and good luck at the golf Simon
I assume Simon's not playing in the north west. We've got snow on the ground up here, which would make it tricky. The drives wouldn't bounce, and the ball would just hide in a hole, and finding the greens and putting would be amusing. I didn't recognise the style of this setter. There were some nice clues, but it wasn't up to the very high standard of the last five puzzles of 2024.
@@vinyl1Earthlink Always get confused with match play, so its basically the one with the most holes won, so for Simon thats very good , maybe just did it by one or two strokes on a couple of holes
Why don't the 'typists' just type a bit slower? Then it wouldn't be so obvious whether they were typists or not. Surely they are cunning enough in their tomfoolery not to want to just be dismissed as 'obvious typists'.
What a privilege to get a peek into Mark's mind as he solves these crosswords. The ease with which his brain parses the clues and how he's able to delve into deep, dark areas of his extensive vocabulary to piece together the solution is so inspiring! I can't still believe how he solved 5D which is so complex that an intermediate solver like myself wouldn't even know where to start and which Mark solved with very few crossers
There's something interesting I've noticed about the way Mark describes his vocabulary. It's not just that he knows a lot of words, it's that he has a really good memory for where and when he learned them. So this allows him to assign quality estimates to all his knowledge and adjust how certain he should feel about any given conclusion. Extremely interesting to have that sort of explicit and accessible knowledge about a process that most people do implicitly.
I've been doing that a lot lately, but it's more like, "Wait, I recognize that word. I learned it from cracking the cryptic."
I'm glad you had the honor to do the 100th Cryptic Masterclass.
Great solve. it is fun to see Mark do one of these in addition to the Monthly Club specials on Patreon.
Good luck to Simon in his golf tournament. We need him back next week to tell us that we can't abbreviate any word unless it is supported by the dictionary. :)
Otherwise we might forget! (But in all seriousness I do appreciate Simons dedication to helping new solvers, both in sudoku and the crosswords - it will always be the first video for someone!)
@@PassionPopsicle Agree. The teaching is one of Simon's strengths.
Bravo! “Every day’s a school day when you’re doing cryptics.” Ain’t that the truth!
I wonder if Simon knows the Secret to Golf... that is, if you add up the digits from each hole of the front nine, you get 45!
What's more - the same applies if you add up all of the digits from each hole of the back nine! Mark
And if you multiply 45x45 you get 2025… it is going to be an interesting year for sudokus.
It is always good to see Mark solving a Friday puzzle .
Love it when we get a Mark crossword solve on a Friday!
That really was a Masterclass! Elegantly explained
Great video Mark!
I love these masterclasses and hope to see Mark do a few more
I love these Cryptic Masterclasses - fascinating, and really and truly, they are making more and more sense to me each week. I loved your reference to Ravel's Bolero as being what Torvill and Dean ice-danced to in the 1984 Winter Olympics. That performance for a gold medal, along with their required dance of the Cape Dance, were mesmerizing to me. I am not sure that, before that year, I had ever been impressed by ice dancing, but they were on another plane compared to the competition.
Congratulations on reaching this milestone!
congrats on the 100th episode!
Happy 100 Cryptic Crossword Masterclasses. I'm a latecomer to watching the series but I enjoy Mark and Simons solves of these amazing wordplay clues. Cheers
Wishing Simon Luck with golfing! YAY!!! Mark does the 100th Crossword!! AND it is a Pangram!
Funny that Road Craft is the only stumbling block in your solve... I knew instantly what a Land Yacht is (it is a large car, like a 1960s or 1970s sedan), but I would still not have gotten the answer. Not that most of these words are strange, I knew most of them, but I would never be able to solve the Cryptic. Even the Hidden...
I love your crossword solves, thanks for doing this!
Comfortably my favourite thing of the week. Especially as this has been, without hyperbole, a Dies Horribilus.
Thank you so much for all your excellent content and sharing the joy of cryptics with the world! As a viewer, am hoping for several hundred more! :)
I write my comments on paper and type them in later 👍
Great solve Mark - Best video of the week - Cheers
Thank you for solving for us Mark! I love the Friday crossword videos :)
Congratulations on the 💯! And good luck to Simon in the [Good walk spoiled] 😄
Love these solves. The explanations on parsing the clues has helped me greatly.
Unbelievable knowledge and skill!
Thanks Mark, some great insights on synonyms and word play 👍
What a clip! Happy Friday
All this clues go way above my head, honestly I just put this in the background for the calming voice. Thank you Mark.
This was so good!
Thanks Mark. It was very good learning. Please keep going.
Great video as always
Congrats on 100!
Congrats on the 100th episode!!
That felt hard to me. Lots of specialist knowledge needed. But as you say Mark…. ‘Every day is a school day.’
Corot without needing the checking c. Awesome!
I found this puzzle very difficult and struggled for over an hour to finish - and then Mark comes around, and makes it look so easy. I would imagine Simon would have least gotten stuck once or twice. And Simon would be nothing to my experience of blundering around for 66 minutes, although I did put in a number of answers instantly.
lovely
Breton is indeed spoken in Brittany, where you'll find Rennes, though few people in that city actually speak it.
Hilarious - nearly every week Simon suspects the puzzle is a pangram and it turns out not to be (I think setters deliberately put a 'Z' or 'J' in Friday puzzles just to get Simon excited), and then Mark gets one!
I remember when I worked at HM Treasury many years ago, there were rules in place to protect against 'nugatory' spend.
Mason Wasps build nests of mud (mostly) and often on walls. (The nests are quite small as the Mason Wasps are solitary wasps.)
It’s an interesting question as to how hard that crossword was. The SNITCH rating had it as “very hard”, if not quite as hard as some previous Fridays, but I, for one, found it significantly easier than the last few Fridays.
I think there are two basic ways a clue can be hard - very cunning wordplay, or a very obscure answer (or both, of course). And whereas cunning wordplay probably slows everyone down to an extent, how obscure an answer is will vary from solver to solver.
I think most of the clues today were pretty straightforward, but a lot of the words were unusual. If you’ve heard of Malayalam, Corot, potoroos, mason wasps etc, you’ll be OK, if you haven’t you might struggle.
One dog who “quaffs” is Snoopy, who occasionally would “quaff a few root beers” with Bill Mauldin.
A bonus, bonus video from Mark today, after the accidental upload of an extra Sudoku last night.*
Good luck in the tournament Simon!
*just got to the end, so I guess it's not a bonus at all! A very enjoyable solve all the same.
Figure Skating mentioned!
The wasps that make paper nests are paper wasps 😊
Simon can do extremely hard Sudokus, can do Cryptic crosswords, runs gameplays, plays the guitar, plays golf... Is there something the man cannot do?!
He cannot cook, i guess, as he routinely mentions. Although that might just be British understatement.
Happy 100th crossword video everyone! Here’s to many more 🎉
100th video - what a great excuse to remind folks that the Sunday Times crossword is 100 years old this weekend, and as well as an article about that, there will be a some older puzzles to try.
Congratulations on reaching 100! I've watched them all and have begun attempting cryptics myself (with mixed success.) One type of clue always confuses me - when 2 clues form a single sentence with elipses... They never seem to appear in these videos, is that just an editorial choice by the times? Are they meant to be solved separately, and just paired together to read better, or are you meant to read them as one clue with a two word answer? Any help appreciated, and good luck at the golf Simon
The first.
Sometimes it is one way, sometimes another. What would you expect in a cryptic - the setter is out to fool you, and will do anything to throw you off.
I assume Simon's not playing in the north west. We've got snow on the ground up here, which would make it tricky. The drives wouldn't bounce, and the ball would just hide in a hole, and finding the greens and putting would be amusing.
I didn't recognise the style of this setter. There were some nice clues, but it wasn't up to the very high standard of the last five puzzles of 2024.
It’s all perfectly obvious - after you’ve explained it. 😂
Is Simon, by any chance, playing in "The President's Putter" competition?
There's an "S J Anthony, Queens (C)" playing. Looks right.
David Webb.
24:49 "orang" means man in Malay, so I suppose it is still a primate.
Is Simon winning off a handicap or is it a straight fight ?
If it's the President's Putter, it's straight match play with no handicaps.
@@vinyl1Earthlink Always get confused with match play, so its basically the one with the most holes won, so for Simon thats very good , maybe just did it by one or two strokes on a couple of holes
I am not sure Further Adoo likes being cut out
Gg mark
Taking a moment to appreciate the perfect symmetry in the blacked-out squares in the grid. Wonderful construction.
Doesn’t “quaffing” mean drinking, but you spill most of it?
(GNU Sir PTerry)
Pronounced 'A aron'
After a 100 of those, does anyone really miss the lengthy explanations about abbreviations? Just a thought.
Frighteningly erudite
Why don't the 'typists' just type a bit slower? Then it wouldn't be so obvious whether they were typists or not. Surely they are cunning enough in their tomfoolery not to want to just be dismissed as 'obvious typists'.
I mean they still solve the puzzle I think, they're not cheating or anything, they're just also super good at typing so they can submit it super fast
everything is possible, when you're watching solutions of puzzles
Please takeover doing the crossword from simple simon.
lovely