My favourite comments: 1) "Hang on, I have to deal with the teaification of my phone." 2) And on finishing the Times Quick Cryptic in 3mins 28 secs, "It's depressing, quite frankly."
Simon, thank you. I'm lying in bed with covid. I've been to ill to watch your last 3 sudoku's. Which I'll watch when I can concentrate more. I hope they are easy one's. Thanks for all you do x
Just wanted to say thank you. Since I stumbled across your channel I have started to attempt the Telegraph cryptic each day (with varied success), but so far my best streak is 3 days. So again thank you for igniting my curiosity.
Good morning! Happy Friday!! I enjoy both the long version where Simon explains his logic and chats with us, and the quick version where his brain leads the way.
Great solve as always, and very entertaining. Highlight of my Friday/Saturday morning. Got a few points today; somehow knowing Urtext and Il Penseroso. Current news could be IN N. In as in "in fashion/current".
As many others this is the video of the week I am looking forward to. Both to see the explanation of the clues and also when you have tried the puzzle yourself. These videos inspire me so much. It actually made me construct my very own first cryptic crossword some months ago. I will very likely start to work on another cryptic myself. Keep up the fantastic work with these videos, please.
Great solve Simon - my favourite clue was 10 across - I would never have understood that one, without your explanation. As always, I learn so much from these masterclasses - Thank you. and your solve of the quick was fantastic - my times on the quick as getting a lot better 👍
Re: “news” becoming nn, I interpret this as coming from the convention that doubling a letter of an abbreviation indicates plural, e.g. p for page, pp for pages, l for line, ll for lines, etc. It’s originally from Latin and has influenced most languages that Latin has influenced, and I believe is a generally applicable convention even if the abbreviation nn isn’t routinely used
I think the idea is that if one new is "n", it makes enough sense for "news" to indicate nn (or even nnn if there are words containing it). Some think that's OK and some don't. (I can't think of anything that belongs to the "etc" after ll and pp.)
"news" as nn is consistent with "sections" being abbreviated to ss, pages to pp, etc. it is a general rule in English that you can double a single letter abbreviation to pluralise it.
23:10 the appearance of URTEXT in this puzzle is so bizarre!! I *only* know the word because I used it to write my own cryptic clue like last year (2nd clue I've ever written, so it's pretty simple :-) Guide to Urtext containing deviation (6)
"News" gets frowned on because Collins doesn't support it, whereas "Lines" is in Collins. Both appear here and in the Guardian and Telegraph fairly frequently. I think if the wordplay works and the solver has a fair chance, have at it.
The word is quite common in my area, though Anglophone scholars will also say "archetype." In classics we deal with texts that have gone through dozens of generations of copying by hand. Sophocles writes "Antigone" and gives copies of the script to his actors. After the show, their friends borrow the script and make their own copies, then the next circle of friends gets in on it, and so on -- all the way down to the development of the printing press in the west. All those people making copies are humans and they make mistakes. All the copies we have of "Antigone" date from hundreds of years after Sophocles died, so you can imagine how many mistakes have crept in. There's a whole sub-discipline within classics (and other literary studies of course) working on un-doing those mistakes to get back to the archetype or Urtext, parent of all the existing copies. I also know the term from (classical/concert) music, where an Urtext edition just contains what the composer wrote, but you can also get more or less heavily edited editions with notes about expression or technique -- useful for getting started with a new piece.
The fun is watching an expert solver solve a very hard puzzle. I have watched all these master classes and enjoy them a lot. BUT if this was really about tuition and guidance, Simon would pick an easier cryptic to solve. Its rather like teaching maths by starting off with calculus. yes, I know the basics are the same.
For 22A, couldn’t it be current = IN (as in fashionable) and news = N, instead of I + NN? It would be less controversial for the news = double new = NN
@@mikechappell5849 i don't know, I have seen some channels using N as an abbreviation for news, first of all ITN. I don't have Chambers to check though, just going by logic
16:29 "In commission" being the opposite of "out of commission" as in "not working" ..... it just does not seem to get used anything like as often as its opposite. At least, not in general -- although maybe there are fields where it is less rare.
My first thought when seeing "current news" becoming "inn" was that "current" was cluing "in" (e.g. current fashion). Is "n" a valid abbreviation for "news"?
I suppose the argument against news = nn might be the inconsistency that it brings because Friends of Winnie runs round and round should therefore be rroo not just roo! Personally I’m not going lose sleep over it, just note it among the many gotchas to watch out for 😊
Never heard an educated English person pronounce the "h" in heir before. I'm still coming to terms with non-northerners calling that letter "haitch", but the world is changing I suppose...
Some of the quick cryptics i can't decipher? Daily fare in legislature - - i get the literal def but not the cryptic Fellow, international player, embracing Henry - - in what way does international player = cap? Enthusiastic European person (strong) that is not heartless - - European = E, strong = bull? But the end of the word eludes me. In centre, gorgeous small sign -- 😅 I'm lost completely on the cryptic
An player's appearance at an international game is called a "cap" (see Wikipedia for "Cap (Sport)"). For the third one: "that is" = IE (common abbreviation, from Latin "id est") "not heartless" =NT ("not" without its central letter) Last one: "In centre, gorgeous" = GE (central letters of "gorGEous", I think) "small" = MINI
From the quick cryptic Place of great beauty, old and new, exotic, welcoming King Place of great beauty (Wonderland) old and new (just the letters) exotic (anagram) welcoming King (R for rex)
41:30 Yes you're right. Canberra. Yogi Berra a famous baseball catcher and person to whom many witty comments have been ascribed. And the Yanks can call your backside your can. Plus Canberra is a capital city. Australia.
He may have gotten duped by the slang one, though. Someone suggested that he should have cut up the word "American" to leave only its "behind" (aka the last few letters), which form the word "can".
My favourite comments: 1) "Hang on, I have to deal with the teaification of my phone." 2) And on finishing the Times Quick Cryptic in 3mins 28 secs, "It's depressing, quite frankly."
It didn't look like the de-teaification was especially efficacious -- Simon just gave it a quick shake. I hope the phone survives. 😸
One of my favourite weekly videos, great to see the quick cryptic done quickly.
Simon, thank you. I'm lying in bed with covid. I've been to ill to watch your last 3 sudoku's. Which I'll watch when I can concentrate more. I hope they are easy one's. Thanks for all you do x
Get better soon!!! 🎈
@@longwaytotipperary Thank you x
I think for 22 across the Yogi Berra is correct and behind America is Canada, which shorten it to Can, and Canberra is the capital city of Australia
@@fatha2092 it's simpler than that. The clue is American, the 'behind' of that word, is the last three letters CAN
Top solving, thank you for the cryptic help 👍👍
Just wanted to say thank you. Since I stumbled across your channel I have started to attempt the Telegraph cryptic each day (with varied success), but so far my best streak is 3 days. So again thank you for igniting my curiosity.
I love these weekly videos, I always learn something. Thank you so much for doing them
There is definitely an audience for these videos!!! Please carry on making them!
I always look forwards to the Crossword videos. And I always learn something new (or maybe the same thing over and over again?).
Good morning! Happy Friday!! I enjoy both the long version where Simon explains his logic and chats with us, and the quick version where his brain leads the way.
His brain is far and away ahead of us leading the way. 😁
@@davidrattner9 absolutely!! 😁
23A "American behind" = back end of American = CAN 🙂
Absolutely love these Friday cryptic videos. Wouldn't mind watching daily cryptic solves too, even if they're only the QC without explanation.
Great solve as always, and very entertaining. Highlight of my Friday/Saturday morning.
Got a few points today; somehow knowing Urtext and Il Penseroso.
Current news could be IN N. In as in "in fashion/current".
Yogi Berra came out with some notable quotations. One of my favourites is "It's deja vu all over again"
Predictions are difficult, especially about the future.
No one goes there anymore; it is far too busy.
Just checked. The first quote is from Niels Bohr!
he never said most of the things he said.
Some of my faves:
"The future ain't what it used to be."
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it."
As many others this is the video of the week I am looking forward to. Both to see the explanation of the clues and also when you have tried the puzzle yourself. These videos inspire me so much. It actually made me construct my very own first cryptic crossword some months ago. I will very likely start to work on another cryptic myself. Keep up the fantastic work with these videos, please.
Love these solves - please continue them!!! Amazing!
Excellent, Simon!! Thanks!
Great solve Simon - my favourite clue was 10 across - I would never have understood that one, without your explanation. As always, I learn so much from these masterclasses - Thank you. and your solve of the quick was fantastic - my times on the quick as getting a lot better 👍
Re: “news” becoming nn, I interpret this as coming from the convention that doubling a letter of an abbreviation indicates plural, e.g. p for page, pp for pages, l for line, ll for lines, etc. It’s originally from Latin and has influenced most languages that Latin has influenced, and I believe is a generally applicable convention even if the abbreviation nn isn’t routinely used
I think the idea is that if one new is "n", it makes enough sense for "news" to indicate nn (or even nnn if there are words containing it). Some think that's OK and some don't. (I can't think of anything that belongs to the "etc" after ll and pp.)
@@peterbiddlecombe1939sections = ss.
Yes please, more cryptics!
Always a treat!
WOOOO CRYPTIC CROSSWORD DAY
Brilliant video, keep them coming, RUclips highlight of the week
Once again, many thanks for the time and effort you put in.
These videos provide invaluable instruction in crosswordese. I can't believe I didn't know Henry = H before!
I look forward to the Friday cryptic crossword every week. Such a great way to start my weekend!
Lovely stuff Simon.
Loved it. Keep 'em coming.
Plural abbreviation schism, the most contentious issue in the Cryptic Crosswordland
22a - I thought it was IN for current (i.e. in vogue) and then N for news
This is what I thought too
also I will forever support your cryptic crossword videos
I was JUST about to look for last week's and saw this pop up x) good morning Simon😊
Lovely stuff 😊
Definitely keep these videos going! I can solve a lot of logic puzzles now without watching the videos, but I'm still pretty baffled by cryptics.
Happy Friday everyone
"news" as nn is consistent with "sections" being abbreviated to ss, pages to pp, etc. it is a general rule in English that you can double a single letter abbreviation to pluralise it.
23:10 the appearance of URTEXT in this puzzle is so bizarre!! I *only* know the word because I used it to write my own cryptic clue like last year (2nd clue I've ever written, so it's pretty simple :-)
Guide to Urtext containing deviation (6)
24:21 I interpret this as current = IN and news = N
"News" gets frowned on because Collins doesn't support it, whereas "Lines" is in Collins. Both appear here and in the Guardian and Telegraph fairly frequently. I think if the wordplay works and the solver has a fair chance, have at it.
Urtext I did know as I buy urtext editions of sheet music
Yes, it's Friday!
Ur is a common german prefix meaning very old or original
I’ve known the word Ur-text for years but always assumed the etymology had to do with the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur!
Screenplay for a caveman, originally. (6)
The word is quite common in my area, though Anglophone scholars will also say "archetype." In classics we deal with texts that have gone through dozens of generations of copying by hand. Sophocles writes "Antigone" and gives copies of the script to his actors. After the show, their friends borrow the script and make their own copies, then the next circle of friends gets in on it, and so on -- all the way down to the development of the printing press in the west. All those people making copies are humans and they make mistakes. All the copies we have of "Antigone" date from hundreds of years after Sophocles died, so you can imagine how many mistakes have crept in. There's a whole sub-discipline within classics (and other literary studies of course) working on un-doing those mistakes to get back to the archetype or Urtext, parent of all the existing copies. I also know the term from (classical/concert) music, where an Urtext edition just contains what the composer wrote, but you can also get more or less heavily edited editions with notes about expression or technique -- useful for getting started with a new piece.
Historical snippet: "Part of a Milton title" was a clue to PENSEROSO in Times Crossword No 1, back in 1930.
The fun is watching an expert solver solve a very hard puzzle. I have watched all these master classes and enjoy them a lot. BUT if this was really about tuition and guidance, Simon would pick an easier cryptic to solve. Its rather like teaching maths by starting off with calculus. yes, I know the basics are the same.
Isn't "American behind" just the end of the word "American"?
In this case I think it refers to "can" being US slang for one's butt.
Skinny is also a colloquial synonym for news.
Interpreting "news" as "more than one new" seems perfectly cromulent to me
I need to use cromulent in conversation today
For 22A, couldn’t it be current = IN (as in fashionable) and news = N, instead of I + NN? It would be less controversial for the news = double new = NN
That does make more sense.
no, because n only stands for new, not news
@@mikechappell5849 i don't know, I have seen some channels using N as an abbreviation for news, first of all ITN. I don't have Chambers to check though, just going by logic
@@Astervista don't think it's in Chambers
a comment for the algo! thanks again simon
For 23 across, I interpreted it as referring to the 'behind' of the word American, ie the letters CAN.
16:29 "In commission" being the opposite of "out of commission" as in "not working" ..... it just does not seem to get used anything like as often as its opposite. At least, not in general -- although maybe there are fields where it is less rare.
28:00 I would not have guessed that Simon knew two rap artists! 😂
I'm watching outside, and I keep trying to tilt my phone, to get the sun out of Simon's eyes 😂
22A - Current (IN) news (N) surrounded by SKY 🙂
'Ur-' is originally a German prefix meaning original. In camera snob circles, the Ur-Leica is revered
The puzzle is much easier if you've heard of urtext and read Il Penseroso in grad school.
🤣🤣
22 across, SKY surrounds IN for current, and then N for need...
Would it not make more sense that current = 'in', and news is just one 'n'?
I've just learned that Henry is an SI unit. How ridiculous! 😂
Dr Dre actually did have a song called Rat-tat-tat. 😂
Welcome to beautiful Friday where Simon continues to provide us with his masterful solving of cryptics.
As I understand the clue, "news" counts for 1 "N", and "current" codes "IN"
19D Wittered on = BABBLED so now you can move the L up for BLABBED :-)
Regarding 22 across, could it be this way - "current" = in, and "news" = n. So we have "inn" inside "sky"?
My first thought when seeing "current news" becoming "inn" was that "current" was cluing "in" (e.g. current fashion). Is "n" a valid abbreviation for "news"?
Hmm... news ends up being nn, but runs ends up being a single r... I'll never be able to do these myself.
The dictionary helped you to dodge a bullet today. 😁
I suppose the argument against news = nn might be the inconsistency that it brings because Friends of Winnie runs round and round should therefore be rroo not just roo! Personally I’m not going lose sleep over it, just note it among the many gotchas to watch out for 😊
The R on a cricket score sheet only very occasionally refers to a single run.
24:13 Is that a subliminal plug for Sky from The Times?
Nails the quick one in 3.5 minutes and apologies for how long it took… meanwhile I take longer than that on one clue 😂
36:15 where does the "or" come from? Can somebody explain
How are you supposed to know which word(s) the anagram indicator is pointing to? I always struggle with this
I just went with current news = what's the skinny?
Watching this three weeks late from the city of Canberra, I’m only a little sad Simon wasn’t sure how to spell it.
Never heard an educated English person pronounce the "h" in heir before. I'm still coming to terms with non-northerners calling that letter "haitch", but the world is changing I suppose...
I think that's just a Simon thing, I've never heard anyone else say it like that
Simon has also been heard to say "herb" with an "h" sound, FWIW.
@@Anne_Mahoney everyone in Britain says herb with an h sound
@@Anne_Mahoney Herb with an audiblle aitch is the standard British pronunciation.
@@mikechappell5849 Fair enough -- I guess I'd never noticed that. You'd think I would have heard the word on Great British Baking Show or something!
totally random question.. but who says their toasts AFTER a dinner? haha
I thought that was the usual time
I accept your apology for only being the sixth best in the world at that puzzle.
Some of the quick cryptics i can't decipher?
Daily fare in legislature - - i get the literal def but not the cryptic
Fellow, international player, embracing Henry - - in what way does international player = cap?
Enthusiastic European person (strong) that is not heartless - - European = E, strong = bull? But the end of the word eludes me.
In centre, gorgeous small sign -- 😅 I'm lost completely on the cryptic
An player's appearance at an international game is called a "cap" (see Wikipedia for "Cap (Sport)").
For the third one:
"that is" = IE (common abbreviation, from Latin "id est")
"not heartless" =NT ("not" without its central letter)
Last one:
"In centre, gorgeous" = GE (central letters of "gorGEous", I think)
"small" = MINI
@@Gorm169 thank you so much!
From the quick cryptic
Place of great beauty, old and new, exotic, welcoming King
Place of great beauty (Wonderland)
old and new (just the letters)
exotic (anagram)
welcoming King (R for rex)
41:30 Yes you're right. Canberra. Yogi Berra a famous baseball catcher and person to whom many witty comments have been ascribed. And the Yanks can call your backside your can. Plus Canberra is a capital city. Australia.
Don't ever apologise for completing in 210 seconds something I'd spend half an hour on, without the pressure of live recording and explaining either.
Capital city of Australia is CANberra.
At the time, its location was selected as halfway between Melbourne and Sydney. 😊
Maybe you need to try more unique video titles to please the algorithm? Like your Sudoku videos?
Simon, you need to brush up on Capital cities and American slang! I rather think your Australian viewers will be less than impressed!
He may have gotten duped by the slang one, though.
Someone suggested that he should have cut up the word "American" to leave only its "behind" (aka the last few letters), which form the word "can".
@@AO968Simon has said in previous videos that usually beginning or end only allows one letter
@@BryanLu0 Usually doesn't mean always.
Sometimes, the setters like to throw you for a loop and slightly mix things up.
Nah it's chill. We pronounce Canberra as "cambra" so I get it.