Had to take 2 letters AND the hint. Still needed the explanation to show me why. I was trying to "dock" ships with all (collectively). It's really hard to change your thinking once you have an idea (that turns out wrong). Great clue.
Loved this clue. Immediately thought docking meant taking the tail off something, so figured "take flight" is the definition. Took the dog for a walk and thought what Ships collectively could mean.. looked down at my dog and instantly yelled FLEE!! Wildly cackled to myself and raced home to find it was correct!
Being pedantic, it doesn't mean remove the tail. It just means to cut short and is often applied to shortening tails. But you can also dock ears for example.
brutal clue today, i havent been keeping up daily but this is definitely the hardest one i've done so far. had to take just about every hint i could and still didnt understand the wordplay until the explanation. docking as a deletion indicator was something i never would've caught. very clever!
I definitely think this was a hard one for me. Even after seeing the answer I couldn't work out the wordplay. "Dock" has the meaning of "cut the tail off an animal". Sheep tails are often docked. Take the last letter (tail) off fleet and you get flee. Great clue when you know the answer!
I really enjoy the challenge of these cryptic clues and am learning as I go along but some days, when I watch the explanations, I can't help but swear out loud. My logical brain has a way to go to get more cryptic thinking!!
I can't believe I solved this. I used to absolutely hate cryptic crosswords but after watching your videos I have started to love them and I am getting so much better at solving them. Thank you and keep up the good work !
this one i had no idea. i used every hint and even still couldnt figure out how the clue was relevant. i got the 'docking' part pretty quick but i couldnt figure out the "ship collectively" bit. tough one !
I got the right answer but wrong reason. I went "Ships docking collectively" = fleet. Take = T and flight took the T away. I forgot docking had a alt meaning. 😂
Understandable! For future reference, there's a few ways to know that that interpretation was wrong: 1. Every part of the clue is being used for the wordplay, so there's nothing left for the straight definition. In almost all cases, no part of a clue will do "double duty"; that is, be part of two different elements of wordplay, or part of both the wordplay and the definition. This is one of the Ximinean principles intended to ensure that clues are "fair" (even if they don't feel like they are!). Publications vary in how closely they hew to Ximenes, but this rule is pretty much universal in modern cryptics. Without the boundaries it draws between clue parts, the possible interpretations of a clue multiply near-endlessly. The general reasoning behind Ximenean cluing is that the clue should function as a sentence describing its solution (albeit often quite a tortured one) The one exception I can think of is what are known as "&lit" ("and literally") clues, wherein the _entire_ clue serves as both wordplay _and_ definition; this is seen as fair because it's not some arbitrary portion of the clue that's being resued - both interpretations of the entire clue serve as a legitimate description of the answer. Anyway, those are relatively rare. 2. I'm not aware of T being a recognised abbreviation for "take". It can feel like cryptics just arbitrarily abbreviate things and everything can be reduced down to its initial letter, but they all have to be conventional abbreviations, though not necessarily ones you've ever heard of! For example, without cryptic crosswords I'd never have learnt that AB for "able-bodied" referred to sailors. You can find lists of common crossworf abbreviations online, or if you're working on a specific clue, you can try looking the prospective abbreviation up in the dictionary to see if it's in there (I believe Chambers is the favoured dictionary for cryptics). 3. While "ships docking collectively" could conceivably be "fleet", the clue has it as " docking ships collectively", which sounds more like a verb phrase than a noun phrase. Also bear in mind that setters endeavour not to include any superfluous words: why use "docking ships collectively" (or "ships docking collectively") when the clue interpretation would be served equally well by "ships collectively"? Sometimes an extra word that doesn't alter the wordplay (but is still part of it!) is included for the benefit of the surface reading, but I don't think that's the case here. I hope this helps identifying if you're on the right track in future. Happy solving!
Ohhhhh ffs!!! So...I was fairly confident on the definition but used a clue to make sure. And I'd sat thinking for a while and couldn't make headway so tried the four letter word synonym I was considering. It was right. But I didn't know why. Got to 2:40 in the video and knew immediately. I'd been thinking of the wordplay as mashing two words together. Had forgotten the other meaning. Very good clue, very tricky. I got it but I didn't. But I learned from it!!
I picked up fleet but then removed flt as a common abbreviation for flight that I had to take away. That left me ee so then went back to flee as ‘take flight’ and went round in circles!
This one was actually quick for me. I wonder if my more novice approach let me overlook the traps more experienced solvers might have seen. I saw ships collectively first and it fell into place easily from there. A few days ago I was stumped by an "easier" one -- fun how some clues just click for certain people and others don't!
The explanation video doesn't fully explain how the word docking is used. Dock can mean to take the tail off, which is what it is doing here: the tail (last letter) is taken off fleet.
Oh wow, I found that very tricky! I guessed the answer from the definition, but had to watch the video to see why it worked. Now I see it, it seems obvious. 🥴
I’m glad that this is a harder clue! I had to reveal a letter after a solid run of solving without hints! Once I got the answer I could see the logic 😅
A better way of explaining that the clue would end in -ing if docking was the definition is that the tense of the definition normally matches the tense of the answer. No 4 letter -ing word is a gerund
1 over par today. I didn’t understand this one. Even when I got the answer, I still didn’t get how. Never occurred to me that docking could mean reduce. Tough !!
I assumed the definition was "take flight" and got a lucky guess. I also thought this one might be short enough to be a double definition. Docking ships collectively could be "port"
Lol, I got caught up on the only definition he ruled out, docking ships="tugs". Couldn't let in go as that anagrams to "gust" which felt like a reasonable thing to do to "take flight", if a bit of a stretch
I’ve been struggling with the last few. Proud to say I got this one very quick, saw take flight as the definition right away. Thought of flee. Confirmed that with ships collectively being docked. Bobs ur uncle
Ok...now try the example where "take flight" was pretty sure the wordplay indicator for something leaving, as we have veen talking about for the past couple of days.
Honestly just got flee, then made sense when I thought of fleet. Had no idea what docking meant since I assumed it was to add the start it end letter like when docking a ship. Had to come here to get the explanation.
they've made a video about what they consider acceptable for minutecryptic and for this channel. wordplay indicators can affect synonyms only if the word isn't majorly changed (eg, removing or adding a letter), but not if it's unrecognizeable in its final form (eg, anagrams)
Struggled with this one, I thought docking ships was "tugs" and the wordplay indicator was an anagram of "gust" which maybe means take flight?! Once I'd found out that was wrong I was stumped!
This was a tough one. Usually when I can’t figure out the answer on my own as soon as I see the answer I understand the wordplay without listening to the explanation.. this time I had no clue. And I would never have made the connection of “docking” to reduce a word.
Wow! I got it without clues and i thought the reasoning was "ships collectively" and then "take flight" as only using the flight related part of the word, so you'd get "flee" from "fleet". I was going mad trying to understand how that was a synonym for "docking"
I struggled with this one. Thought that “take” might be the wordplay indicator meaning to take away or remove something meaning “flight” from something meaning “collectively” or “ships collectively”.
Oh I got it 2 under par, but I got to Flee by a different route.. A Lee is a type of dock. And F is an abbreviation for Flight I believe. As used in flight numbers. So dock taking flight could be lee taking F. But I wasn’t happy with the justification because it didn’t use the ‘ships collectively’ part of the clue. Oh well. Task failed successfully 😬
Took me a while, mostly because I kept thinking of "armada" for a group of ships! I then began to doubt myself and question whether "docking" could be the definition, or whether it was meant to be "flight", "take flight" or "collectively take flight". Once I came up with the right word for a group of ships, confidence returned!
Grrr. I got the docking but was trying to dock ship ie sh and was then trying to understand what to do with collectively. I need to get better at trying different strategies if my first idea isn’t working. Feeling frustrated
I got it but I didn't grasp "docking" as taking away like docking someone's wages. I read the clue as "docking ships collectively" being fleet, although I was puzzled why they had to be docking, and then the T flies away, with T indicated by the word "take" in a phonetic alphabet way. Even a blind pig sniffs out a truffle now and then.
I am feeling vindicated for noticing the docking wordplay, but could collectively also be wordplay in a clue to indicate that 2 ideas or words need to be combined?
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Superbly tough one today…knew it had to be flee but couldn’t backwards engineer the wordplay
Had to take 2 letters AND the hint. Still needed the explanation to show me why. I was trying to "dock" ships with all (collectively). It's really hard to change your thinking once you have an idea (that turns out wrong). Great clue.
I had a very similar experience
Loved this clue. Immediately thought docking meant taking the tail off something, so figured "take flight" is the definition. Took the dog for a walk and thought what Ships collectively could mean.. looked down at my dog and instantly yelled FLEE!! Wildly cackled to myself and raced home to find it was correct!
It also means remove the tail.
That's a much nicer explanation. I'm happier that it was just a definition I wasn't aware of, because I felt a hit hard done by until that
This is what I thought of and I think it makes more sense than just making fleet shorter.
Being pedantic, it doesn't mean remove the tail. It just means to cut short and is often applied to shortening tails. But you can also dock ears for example.
I missed this bit but got it anyway, just didn’t understand it fully
I just picked up "Secrets of the Setters". A book about the guardian cryptics. A good supplement to this channel.
Also - Pretty Girl in Crimson Rose by Sandy Balfour
brutal clue today, i havent been keeping up daily but this is definitely the hardest one i've done so far. had to take just about every hint i could and still didnt understand the wordplay until the explanation. docking as a deletion indicator was something i never would've caught. very clever!
I definitely think this was a hard one for me. Even after seeing the answer I couldn't work out the wordplay.
"Dock" has the meaning of "cut the tail off an animal". Sheep tails are often docked. Take the last letter (tail) off fleet and you get flee. Great clue when you know the answer!
Got the answer immediately, but had to come here to find out why 🤦🏽♀️
Same. I was like "Okay, it's this... but why???"
Same
Hmm..how??
Same!
Same!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????
Thanks to the excellent coaching, and practice with other clues, I got this in a few seconds. i started with the collective noun for ships.
I really enjoy the challenge of these cryptic clues and am learning as I go along but some days, when I watch the explanations, I can't help but swear out loud. My logical brain has a way to go to get more cryptic thinking!!
I can't believe I solved this. I used to absolutely hate cryptic crosswords but after watching your videos I have started to love them and I am getting so much better at solving them. Thank you and keep up the good work !
Brilliant explanation. I'm still learning how to crack these clues and I love how all your explanations are patient and clear. Thanks!
this one i had no idea. i used every hint and even still couldnt figure out how the clue was relevant. i got the 'docking' part pretty quick but i couldnt figure out the "ship collectively" bit. tough one !
Thank you for the in-depth explanation.
I got the right answer but wrong reason. I went "Ships docking collectively" = fleet. Take = T and flight took the T away. I forgot docking had a alt meaning. 😂
I did exactly the same
Same
Me too!
Understandable! For future reference, there's a few ways to know that that interpretation was wrong:
1. Every part of the clue is being used for the wordplay, so there's nothing left for the straight definition. In almost all cases, no part of a clue will do "double duty"; that is, be part of two different elements of wordplay, or part of both the wordplay and the definition. This is one of the Ximinean principles intended to ensure that clues are "fair" (even if they don't feel like they are!). Publications vary in how closely they hew to Ximenes, but this rule is pretty much universal in modern cryptics. Without the boundaries it draws between clue parts, the possible interpretations of a clue multiply near-endlessly. The general reasoning behind Ximenean cluing is that the clue should function as a sentence describing its solution (albeit often quite a tortured one) The one exception I can think of is what are known as "&lit" ("and literally") clues, wherein the _entire_ clue serves as both wordplay _and_ definition; this is seen as fair because it's not some arbitrary portion of the clue that's being resued - both interpretations of the entire clue serve as a legitimate description of the answer. Anyway, those are relatively rare.
2. I'm not aware of T being a recognised abbreviation for "take". It can feel like cryptics just arbitrarily abbreviate things and everything can be reduced down to its initial letter, but they all have to be conventional abbreviations, though not necessarily ones you've ever heard of! For example, without cryptic crosswords I'd never have learnt that AB for "able-bodied" referred to sailors. You can find lists of common crossworf abbreviations online, or if you're working on a specific clue, you can try looking the prospective abbreviation up in the dictionary to see if it's in there (I believe Chambers is the favoured dictionary for cryptics).
3. While "ships docking collectively" could conceivably be "fleet", the clue has it as " docking ships collectively", which sounds more like a verb phrase than a noun phrase. Also bear in mind that setters endeavour not to include any superfluous words: why use "docking ships collectively" (or "ships docking collectively") when the clue interpretation would be served equally well by "ships collectively"? Sometimes an extra word that doesn't alter the wordplay (but is still part of it!) is included for the benefit of the surface reading, but I don't think that's the case here.
I hope this helps identifying if you're on the right track in future. Happy solving!
@@TheJamesM Thank you for that information!
I’m struggling this week 😢
Me too but stuck with it 👍
I bloody love your explanations 😅
Omg I got this , so pleased. I used the word collectively for ships docked, taking the time away fir a synonym for take flight
Your demonstration of being systematic here is superb! I’m liking the harder clues even when they stump me.
Wow, this was a tough one. Clever but tough. I'm not ready for such involved word play yet. A year from now, maybe?
Tricky one! I was getting cocky but today had to use hints and letter for the first time in ages.
I needed the clues to hit par…and the video to understand why it was right!
Ohhhhh ffs!!! So...I was fairly confident on the definition but used a clue to make sure. And I'd sat thinking for a while and couldn't make headway so tried the four letter word synonym I was considering. It was right. But I didn't know why. Got to 2:40 in the video and knew immediately. I'd been thinking of the wordplay as mashing two words together. Had forgotten the other meaning. Very good clue, very tricky. I got it but I didn't. But I learned from it!!
I got that “ships collectively” was “fleet” but i thought that “take flight” might mean to remove the F and was stuck with Docking = Leet 😂
Thanks Mr Cryptic!
Got it, 2 under. Really enjoying these little challenges.
That was really good. I was dancing around the answer with fleet, but for some reason missed removing the t somehow.
Took me a while today, had to keep coming back to it and eventually got there in the end!
I got fleet straight away and knew that flee was the answer but how to drop the T had me. Good one.
Struggled with this one. But once I got it…very clever!
I picked up fleet but then removed flt as a common abbreviation for flight that I had to take away. That left me ee so then went back to flee as ‘take flight’ and went round in circles!
This one was actually quick for me. I wonder if my more novice approach let me overlook the traps more experienced solvers might have seen. I saw ships collectively first and it fell into place easily from there. A few days ago I was stumped by an "easier" one -- fun how some clues just click for certain people and others don't!
The explanation video doesn't fully explain how the word docking is used. Dock can mean to take the tail off, which is what it is doing here: the tail (last letter) is taken off fleet.
Oh wow, that's really clever. Docking, as you do for dogs. That's excellent.
didn't know this meaning of the word, cool
Oh wow, I found that very tricky! I guessed the answer from the definition, but had to watch the video to see why it worked. Now I see it, it seems obvious. 🥴
Got it after using the hint, but realised docking is removing only after watching the explanation 😂
I’m glad that this is a harder clue! I had to reveal a letter after a solid run of solving without hints! Once I got the answer I could see the logic 😅
It's almost poetic.
Gorgeous clue!
Thanks for the 15 minute cryptic. 😅. I barely retained my streak.
Found this one really hard. For ages I assumed it was a double definition.
Aargh, got it but couldn't figure out where the removal of the 't' came from. SNEAKY WELL DONE
Wordplay on this had me completely stumped. Just guessed the definition and got it
A better way of explaining that the clue would end in -ing if docking was the definition is that the tense of the definition normally matches the tense of the answer. No 4 letter -ing word is a gerund
I found this on the really tricky side, and came to the video for the explanation!
1 over par today.
I didn’t understand this one.
Even when I got the answer, I still didn’t get how.
Never occurred to me that docking could mean reduce.
Tough !!
Just for completeness, I think "take flight" could also be an anagram indicator too (I don't like it stylistically,but have seen it before).
I assumed the definition was "take flight" and got a lucky guess. I also thought this one might be short enough to be a double definition. Docking ships collectively could be "port"
Lol, I got caught up on the only definition he ruled out, docking ships="tugs". Couldn't let in go as that anagrams to "gust" which felt like a reasonable thing to do to "take flight", if a bit of a stretch
a hard one, but creative!! took me a while to figure out what "collectively" was doing here
I’ve been on a roll of late but that humbled me big time
Tricky one today, but I think, as the video shows, if you work your way through it in systematically, the answer reveals itself.
I’ve been struggling with the last few. Proud to say I got this one very quick, saw take flight as the definition right away. Thought of flee. Confirmed that with ships collectively being docked. Bobs ur uncle
Ok...now try the example where "take flight" was pretty sure the wordplay indicator for something leaving, as we have veen talking about for the past couple of days.
2 under par today and feeling proud 😊
Nice one. Had to step back and revisit after a couple of hours, then it was sort of obvious.
Honestly just got flee, then made sense when I thought of fleet. Had no idea what docking meant since I assumed it was to add the start it end letter like when docking a ship. Had to come here to get the explanation.
I'm happy I got it then if it was a harder one haha. I did use the hint, but that was more of a confirmation I was going the right way
This one was to hard for me, but once I watched the video I understood the process. One day I’ll be able to get these tricky ones!
I'm of the opinion that wordplay indicators that remove/add/anagram should only affect the words in the clue and not the synonyms.
they've made a video about what they consider acceptable for minutecryptic and for this channel. wordplay indicators can affect synonyms only if the word isn't majorly changed (eg, removing or adding a letter), but not if it's unrecognizeable in its final form (eg, anagrams)
30 under par on 47 streak, loved this one!
It's great that they're harder occasionally! That said I couldn't figure it out and needed two letters haha
Got the meaning for docking but was looking for a specific letter to take off of fleet, didn't realise it could just mean to chop the last letter off
Struggled with this one, I thought docking ships was "tugs" and the wordplay indicator was an anagram of "gust" which maybe means take flight?! Once I'd found out that was wrong I was stumped!
tough
This was a tough one. Usually when I can’t figure out the answer on my own as soon as I see the answer I understand the wordplay without listening to the explanation.. this time I had no clue. And I would never have made the connection of “docking” to reduce a word.
On the contrary, it was quite simple - “ships collectively” is fleet - at first glance that’s quite obvious, and take flight is flee
I got my ass kicked yesterday so I'm glad I got this!
I guessed "tugs" as docking ships then "flee", which was right. But I didn't know why.
Whew, that was a tough one for me. Regardless though, this is a really fun puzzle for today!
I got flee, but I didn't know how I got it until coming here!
Got it really fast bcs of a random guess again oops, came here for the wordplay
Wow! I got it without clues and i thought the reasoning was "ships collectively" and then "take flight" as only using the flight related part of the word, so you'd get "flee" from "fleet". I was going mad trying to understand how that was a synonym for "docking"
Cant believe how long this took me!
Brilliant clue
I got it but didn't understand why the end of the word had to be removed until it was explained.
I struggled with this one. Thought that “take” might be the wordplay indicator meaning to take away or remove something meaning “flight” from something meaning “collectively” or “ships collectively”.
This one got me good.
Thought it was Flee, but had no idea how to get there
I tried 'park' , I thought that could mean docking , and 'ark' can be a ship, so had a punt on it. Tough one!
Didn't get this one today. Got hung up on "docking ships" as tugs or tow boats vice wordplay.
absolutely wrecked by todays clue. wanted to remove ships from collectively 😂
Oh I got it 2 under par, but I got to Flee by a different route.. A Lee is a type of dock. And F is an abbreviation for Flight I believe. As used in flight numbers. So dock taking flight could be lee taking F. But I wasn’t happy with the justification because it didn’t use the ‘ships collectively’ part of the clue. Oh well. Task failed successfully 😬
Very clever 👌
I really struggled with this one. I did not think that docking would mean to reduce.
Got the answer in about 2 seconds - lucky guess - then worked out the clue. Still counts. Right?!
Somehow I got the answer after the definition hint purely by guessing. Even knowing the answer, I had to come here to see why that was the answer.
I thought this was a double definition and I just had never heard of the first definition. Of course....
I got this one pretty much instantly by mistake
I got the answer- didn’t know the reason- then had a eureka moment! 🎉
Took me a while, mostly because I kept thinking of "armada" for a group of ships! I then began to doubt myself and question whether "docking" could be the definition, or whether it was meant to be "flight", "take flight" or "collectively take flight".
Once I came up with the right word for a group of ships, confidence returned!
@@michaelkhng6956 me too!!
Got it, but had to come here to see how the wordplay worked. Really wasn’t obvious to me even with the answer
This one was really tricky! I was thinking ships meant SS, and tried finding a word that ended with ss 😅
Super tough today
Good one
Didn’t get this at all. This week is hard!
Grrr. I got the docking but was trying to dock ship ie sh and was then trying to understand what to do with collectively. I need to get better at trying different strategies if my first idea isn’t working. Feeling frustrated
I got it but I didn't grasp "docking" as taking away like docking someone's wages. I read the clue as "docking ships collectively" being fleet, although I was puzzled why they had to be docking, and then the T flies away, with T indicated by the word "take" in a phonetic alphabet way.
Even a blind pig sniffs out a truffle now and then.
Eesh that was a toughie.
TLDR actual explanation starts at 2:30
Incorrect use of TLDR and actually if you want the whole explanation then at most skip 30seconds
I am feeling vindicated for noticing the docking wordplay, but could collectively also be wordplay in a clue to indicate that 2 ideas or words need to be combined?
Good one!