Here's Mark's attempt at the December Times Monthly Club Special cryptic crossword. How will he get on this month with this insane cryptic challenge?
You can watch the video here:
https://youtu.be/lh2u_T_Bumc 2022-01-23 21:23:45 +0000 UTC View Post
This is one of the best puzzles I've ever seen. It's the new puzzle from Phistomefel and it's just a ridiculous creation. I spent 90 minutes last night absolutely enthralled by it and you can watch my attempt by clicking the link at the base of this message. But do give yourself...
2022-01-19 15:29:54 +0000 UTC View PostHappy New Year Patreons!
What better way to kick off the New Year than with a brilliant Sudoku Hunt by Peter C Hayward. As trailed in our book, CTC's Greatest Hits, and on the channel, Peter has created a remarkable journey through time and space that you will LOVE working your way through....
2022-01-01 16:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostHello Patreons!
Very well done to everyone who finished, or indeed made any progress in, the Puzzle Pyramid. This Christmas bonus comes with A FULL SUITE of solution videos - thank you so much to Aspartagcus, PjotrV and Panthera for not just creating the puzzles, which were awesome, but als...
2022-01-01 12:02:05 +0000 UTC View PostHi Patreons!
Here are the solution videos for December 2021's monthly reward sudoku hunt, the Mexican Standoff. The videos show how to solve each puzzle, Barred Windoku by PaperScissors, Looking Glass Killer by jneen and Poison Picnic 4: Wasp Sandwich by Chilly, as well as the final puzzle,...
2021-12-29 10:49:35 +0000 UTC View PostWatch Mark take on the Times's Monthly Club Special cryptic crossword - the hardest regular crossword anywhere. Warning: Do not try this at home without a dictionary to hand!
This month there is no split decision - a clear winner emerges ...
The video is here:
Hi Patreons!
Thanks so much for supporting our channel. We are delighted to bring you a fantastic Christmas present - a puzzle/sudoku hunt by some wonderful constructors: PjotrV, Panthera and Aspartagcus. You can access this puzzle hunt by going to this URL: 2021-12-18 16:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi Patreons,
Every year GCHQ release a challenge for the public. This year it's aimed at 11-18-year-olds in the UK. You can look up the original challenge here: https://www.gchq.gov.uk/news/christmas-card-2...
2021-12-15 13:59:29 +0000 UTC View PostAs mentioned in tonight's video, we're releasing this bonus video on the above puzzle. It's a staggeringly clever construction and "trick" but neither of us would have solved it!!
How did you do?!
You can play the puzzle here:
Hello Patrons!
Thank you so much for supporting our channel, and so enabling us to bring you extra content as often as we can. The monthly reward for our $2 Patrons and above is Mexican Standoff, a three-way shoot-out between three constructors who sent us puzzles and had no idea they would...
2021-12-01 16:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostHello Patreons!
Thank you so much for supporting us, and thanks to those who complimented the extraordinary November reward, the PBN Institute puzzle pack by Panthera and TheAsylm. 178 of you matriculated through all the puzzles and reached degree level.
We are delighted to present vi...
2021-11-25 10:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostAs mentioned in last night's video, Simon has been trying some of the Genuinely Approachable Pencil Puzzles from the Discord server - and they're brilliant. [The daily puzzle can be found in the channel "daily-pencil-puzzle-discussion" and these slightly older puzzles are in the channel "da...
2021-11-23 18:53:18 +0000 UTC View PostMark has been told by Simon to have a go at Phistomefel's 6x6 example puzzle for Lighthouse. If this goes OK, Simon will attempt to solve the 9x9 version by Livestream tomorrow (21st Nov) at 9.00pm GMT on YouTube. Mark's solve is on the following video:
Mark takes on The Times Monthly Club Special, by Roger Phillips - the hardest cryptic regularly published anywhere! You are warned that you will have heard of very few of these answers, but Mark tries to tackle the puzzle without using the dictionary ...
You can watc...
2021-11-09 11:34:29 +0000 UTC View PostWe published nine solution videos for Padlocked a couple of weeks ago - but some people wanted to see more! Thanks so much to the creators of the incredible Lockout Lines hunt who have rallied round to create videos for the remaining six puzzles.
We are delighted to bring them to you,...
2021-11-08 17:56:29 +0000 UTC View PostHi all,
As mentioned on the channel in the last few days, Simon attempted this extraordinary puzzle by zetamath recently. We intended this to be a patreon-only video but there has been a huge appeal for it to appear on the main channel too. Thank you to those patrons in pa...
2021-11-01 22:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostHi Patreons! {PDFs edited 02/11/2021}
We are delighted that the Paint-By-Numbers Institute had shared its full educational pack with us, from Intro...
2021-11-01 16:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostMark takes nearly forty minutes to explain the finish to this wonderful Listener Crossword, Variety Show by Enigmatist, and that's with the clues already solved!
The puzzle was published by the Times on September 18, 2021, and was an absolute tour de force by thes compiler, John Henderson. ...
2021-10-24 08:27:40 +0000 UTC View PostHi Patreons!
We are excited to announce that the November reward for paying Patreons will be "The Paint-by-Numbers Institute proudly presents our Picture Puzzle Pack!"
The PBN Institute seems to consist of Panthera and TheAsylm, who have created a huge, but approachable puzzle pack wi...
2021-10-22 19:25:59 +0000 UTC View PostHi Patreons!
We have not just one video solution for you this month, but nine! We asked the constructors if they were interested in/able to make videos for their puzzles, and eight of them have done it – many thanks to Riffclown, Mr Menace, Andrewsarchus, Memeristor, grkles, Chilly & ...
2021-10-21 10:41:24 +0000 UTC View PostAs mentioned in tonight's video, Simon has done battle with this brilliant puzzle by Botaku. You can watch the video at the link below but do try the puzzle first:
Play the puzzle here: https://ap...
2021-10-16 19:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostAs mentioned in tonight's video, Botaku has set an intriguing puzzle with some complex-looking rules! Play the puzzle here:
https://app.crackingthecryptic.com/sudoku/tMmgPBBP93
Sud...
2021-10-16 19:06:10 +0000 UTC View PostHi Patreons,
Yet again, our crossword champion goes toe-to-toe with the most brutal regular cryptic crossword there is. See who comes off best this time, as Mark battles Richard Rogan, the Times Crossword Editor, on September's Monthly Club Special.
Be warned: in terms of vocabulary, ...
2021-10-14 18:07:43 +0000 UTC View PostAs mentioned in tonight's video, the anniversary of Philip's first appearance on Cracking The Cryptic has just passed. To celebrate, Philip released a pack of 10 sudokus which we thought you'd like to see.
If you own our SudokuPad app then this link will allow you to load all the puzz...
2021-10-10 18:16:38 +0000 UTC View PostWe're so excited to share this one with you. The attached document is a Lockout Lines sudoku hunt from some of the great and good of the sudoku world, including the two inventors of the Lockout Lines ruleset: Tallcat and Riffclown.
If you manage to solve the final puzzle send u...
2021-10-01 15:01:07 +0000 UTC View PostHi Everyone,
Thanks for supporting us on Patreon! We are thrilled to provide you with a solution video to Sam Cappleman-Lynes's 6x6x6 Sudoku.
This was a brilliant puzzle, in which it was vital to keep using the disjoint set rule which applied to all 6 grids - so it acted a bit like a ...
2021-09-26 14:06:26 +0000 UTC View PostHi Patreons,
Thank you so much for supporting our channel! Thanks to the hundreds of people who entered the Looney Tunes sudoku hunt, and the hundreds more who solved it without entering too.
About 85% of entrants sent the right answer, so clearly the means of deriving and...
2021-09-21 09:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostSome of the world's best constructors have teamed up to create this extraordinary classic sudoku pack. Featuring over 50 puzzles, shye, jovi_al, Philip Newman and Sam Cappleman-Lynes have put together a set of sudokus that TEACH solvers about advanced techniques - one technique per puzzle. ...
2021-09-20 18:38:19 +0000 UTC View PostHere is a bit of a treat for you: Sam Cappleman-Lynes, one of the world's most brilliant puzzlers, has created a new set of 6 linked 6x6 sudokus. Play them right now at either of the links below:
2021-09-17 17:10:04 +0000 UTC View PostIt's time for Mark to challenge himself with The Times Monthly Club Special cryptic crossword, the one with the insanely recondite vocabulary, and the most cruel clues regularly published anywhere.
This months's puzzle is by Roger Phillips, a bit of a nemesis for Mark - see how he gets on i...
2021-09-10 09:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post