crackingthecryptic

September Patreon Reward - Looney Tunes

Hi Patreons,

Thank you so much for supporting our channel, and enabling us to bring you extra puzzles and other content. It is our pleasure to bring these to you.

This month, three Looney Tunes characters are arguing over a sandwich, and must amass points to try and win it. You have to conclude who is the winner and how many points they get. If you send us this information by 4pm UK time on 20th September, you will be entered in a draw to win an item of merchandise. Do let us know...

Heatwave - The Solution

Hi Patreons,

Just before we launch this month's Patreon Reward, we have finally put together a solution video to Heatwave, the puzzle pack by grkles which was last month's Patreon Reward, and features thermo and slow thermo sudokus, hence the title.

Many congratulations to all the successful solvers, including Anders Sørensen the winner of the competition, drawn from almost 500 senders of the correct row of the grid (dozens more sent the row with punctuation, which was prohibited...

Murder Mystery Sudoku Hunt - The Solution

Hi Patreons,

Just before we launch this month's Patreon Reward, we have a bit of business to tidy up. First of all, we are attaching the solution to Cracking the Case of the Roman Tragedy, the murder mystery cooked up by Alice & No-Feet McGee, with puzzles by them and SciFiFan, James Daniel Peter (MaverickJd), Scott Strosahl, Madmahogany, Max Reenoch and Sam-Testings.

Here attached is the original solution document - some of the symbols changed a bit during the evolution ...

That Vicious Cryptic

Hi Patreons,

Here Mark takes on the Times Monthly Club Special - the most cruel and arcane cryptic crossword that gets published regularly. It's for Times Crossword Club members, and the compiler alternates: despite what Mark says in the video, this month it's Richard Rogan's puzzle.

Watch him struggle with the puzzle here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72k--8RzrnM

Enjoy the schadenfr...

Elements of Sudoku by Zetamath

Hi All,

Thanks to the Patreons who support this channel. When Zetamath sent us this fascinating hunt called Elements of Sudoku, we were thrilled to have a chance to bring it to you, because we love bringing you great extra content.

There are no instructions provided with the hunt – they have to be worked out by the solver!

We will advise that many solvers may need to consult Discord to get through it – I would expect the patreon-chat channel to host some...

August Monthly Reward - Heatwave!

Hello Patrons!

Thank you ever so much for supporting our channel, and so allowing us to bring you so much extra content.  This month's reward is an amazing pack of puzzles from grkles, who is a brilliant constructor. The pack is called Heatwave, and can be downloaded below.

You can print out the puzzles, or play them in our software using the link on each page of the pack. If you can get through all the puzzles, and work out how to solve the final puzzle, please send row 4 of...

July Patreon Reward - Solution Video!

Hi, $3 Patreons and above!

Thank you SO much for supporting our channel. Because you do that, we are able to bring you extra content like Jovi_al's unbelievable sudoku extravaganza Something for Everyone ... AND solution videos like this one!

Mark takes you through six of the puzzles in the relay (including the five hardest), and explains how the links worked, and how the winner was drawn, as well as telling you how to convert f-puzzles links to play in the CTC app.

Here is ...

Cryptic Speedrun - 6 Times Cryptics

Mark takes on a week's worth of Times Crosswords, explaining (to an extent) what he's thinking as he goes, and letting you into the mind of a champion solver, as well as the minds of six cryptic crossword compilers.

See if he can get them each done in the 5-6 minutes he's always aiming for - and what causes trouble along the way.

Watch the video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlh5eB-Ih0o 2021-07-16 16:02:48 +0000 UTC View Post

Roman Tragedy - Murder Mystery Sudoku Hunt

Hi All,

Thanks to the Patreons who support this channel.  As a special 5,000 Patreons reward, we are delighted to bring you the promised Murder Mystery sudoku hunt "Cracking the Case of the Roman Tragedy".

Many thanks to Alice & No-Feet McGee for curating this hunt, and of course to the puzzle authors, Alice, SciFiFan, James Daniel Peter, Scott Strosahl, Madmahogany, Max Reenoch and Sam-Testings, with further thanks to other testers and organisers.

The puzzles can b...

July Reward - Something for Everyone

Hi Patreons!

Thank you for supporting our channel.  Here is the reward for this month - jovi_al's sudoku extravaganza, entitled Something for Everyone. It is a relay of 20 different sudoku types, all of an approachable standard!

We have a really special prize for this reward - a sudoku cushion specially created by Anita Berge, featuring the first puzzle in the hunt as decoration.  Entries will be possible for 20 days, until 4pm BST on July 20th, and we will then draw a w...

Simon Plays StarCraft2

As requested by some of our patrons, here is a video in which Simon demonstrates how overpowered the races of Zerg, Protoss and even Terran (!) are when playing against him in the incredible video game StarCraft 2.  

Simon used to try to play this game very seriously when he worked in the City Of London but then life got in the way.  You'll have to forgive his awful mechanics, lack of strategy and invented-on-the-hoof builds :)

2021-07-01 12:19:08 +0000 UTC View Post

June monthly reward - the solution (HGTTG)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy sudoku hunt was incredibly popular - here's how it could be solved.

Feel free to jump to one of the puzzles that was troubling you or where the explanation for the hint to puzzle 4 is revealed. The individual puzzle explanations begin at 1:04, 15:19, 28:55 and 49:50.

A full list of correct solution submitters is shown in the video's description field. 

See the video here: 2021-06-18 09:23:46 +0000 UTC View Post

Bitten by the Beast ... Cryptic Mayhem

If you are addicted to watching Mark struggle with the monthly Times Cryptic Special for its Crossword Club members, you won't want to miss this episode.

Bear in mind whilst watching that Mark is the most successful competition cryptic crossword solver in history, and almost the only person who could even attempt this puzzle without Chambers dictionary to hand!

But then sit back and enjoy the schadenfreude ...

2021-06-16 09:09:59 +0000 UTC View Post

Simon Attempts Mark's Puzzle From Yesterday!

Hi everyone, 

As mentioned in this evening's video, we wanted to take another look at Sumanta Mukherjee's puzzle from yesterday.  Mark's solve is really remarkable because he got to a solution without certain tricks.  Simon has no qualms about employing all sorts of deviance to get through the puzzle and you can watch what he did at the link below:

Play the puzzle here:

ht...

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy: Sudoku Hunt

Here it is!  Our hunt themed on THGTTG!!  We really hope you enjoy it.  If you manage to finish it then drop us an email at crackingthecryptic@gmail.com - we'll being doing shoutouts on the channel for the next week at least :)

Thanks as always for your support and good luck!

Simon & Mark

The Discord 1-Year Anniversary Pack

Thanks to Priyam Bhushan (@punchingcatto) for co-ordinating this wonderful document. Read the constructors' stories of their journeys as constructors and try a commemorative puzzle from each of them!

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/747445051118059570/847187653001609227/discord_anniversary_v2.pdf  If that doesn't work try the attachme...

A tough Times Cryptic Crossword

Mark is asked to record his solve of the Times Crossword (from Friday 21st May) as Simon expects him to find it difficult...

Can he beat the 10-minute barrier?

Find out here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb556PVsl-U 

St George v Dragon

Every month Mark takes on the deadly cryptic that is The Times Monthly Club Special. Sometimes he slays this dragon - in the end - other times, the dragon fights back and scores a win on points or even by knock-out.

What will happen with April's Club Special? Surely St George's Day will inspire Mark ... 

You can see the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIdCw9H5Grw 

How to solve Build Your Own Sudoku

May's monthly reward was Matyas Martinka's amazing puzzle hunt Build Your Own Sudoku.

We have split the video explaining how to solve the hunt into four parts, which can be viewed at the following links. Congratulations to everyone who sent in a correct silution (listed at the end of the final puzzle).  Here are the URls for the four videos:

The first three puzzles (Snake Pit, Fillomino, Slitherlink): 2021-05-23 16:34:04 +0000 UTC View Post

A Most Extreme Cryptic

Simon recommended that Mark record his solve of today's Times daily cryptic Crossword!

Does that mean it's going to be really hard or really easy?

Find out in this video ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd0aWaF14yY 

Star Wars Puzzle Pack

As mentioned in last night's video, here is the Star Wars puzzle pack put together by Philip Newman.  Lots of great sudokus and art here - enjoy!!

There's a teaser too at the link below :)

https://starwarsintrocreator.kassellabs.io/#!/DMZiCIzNyrORFbrxF64b/

May the 4th Be With You ...

Here's the Puzzle Pack of Star Wars themed sudoku put together on Discord that has been mentioned in today's videos.

Thanks to Philip Newman for assembling it and sending it to us.

World Snooker Championship Sudoku

We're delighted to share a bonus solve with you of a puzzle apiyo made to celebrate the World Snooker Championship - which will finish tonight at The Crucible Theatre, Sheffield.

This puzzle has a LOT of rules, befitting the great game that inspired it!  You can watch Simon attempt it at the video link below but do give it a try too on the puzzle link :)

Link to play the puzzle:

htt...

Two bonus puzzles

As mentioned in tonight's video, there was a sudoku setting Battle Royale on Discord recently in which Tyrgannus, clover and Sam Cappleman-Lynes went toe-to-toe to see who could create the best sudoku in an hour (!) The sudoku type was selected by jovi_al and it was judged (blind) by TotallyNormalCat.  

Tyrgannus' winning puzzle features in the video but, at Sam's suggestion, we're delighted to share with you the other two sudokus.  Do please comment and let the authors know w...

May Patreon Reward - Build your own Sudoku

Hello Patreons,

Thanks for your continued support for us! We are thrilled to present as our May reward puzzle, the attached puzzle hunt, Build Your Own Sudoku, by Mátyás Martinka.  Many thanks to Mátyás for creating this and sharing it with us and yourselves!

Remember that working out how to apply the hints and solve the puzzles is part of a sudoku hunt. Please don't discuss aspects of the hunt here on Patreon which could act as spoilers - there will be an opportunity in ...

Mark v the Cryptic - this time it's personal

Hello crossword fans!  Here Mark attempts to take revenge on the Times Monthly Club Special - the Times's special cryptic crossword with insanely recherché vocabulary.

See how he does battle with it, and whether he can get to a finish without consulting dictionaries and word-matchers this time ...

Here is the link to this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLjsLYCi-4g 

2021-04-23 10:11:14 +0000 UTC View Post

Sisyphus by Phistomefel

As mentioned in last night's video, Simon was keen to try a new logic puzzle published by the incredible Phistomefel so we've released his attempt as a bonus video!  We love the theme of this one where the idea is that rocks roll into the grid and then tumble down hills!  (If anyone has the computer skills to show the final answer graphically we'd love to see it!!)  

Let us know how you got on with this (tricky) puzzle!

Simon & Mark

Simon's ...

April Reward Puzzle - Solution video

Hello Everyone!  

Thanks for your support on the channel - and thanks for all the interest in Everything Wrogn is on Fire, DiMono's follow-up to his astonishing Everything is Wrogn puzzle, that took Simon over an hour to solve.

DiMono has recorded his own video explaining how to solve the puzzle, and we are delighted to be able to bring it to you.  Remember this puzzle came out two weeks ago - on April 1st.  Here is the video: 

2021-04-15 12:59:15 +0000 UTC View Post

Doing Battle with a Vicious Cryptic

Here is Mark's longest battle yet with The Times Monthly Club Special.

Roger Phillips is the compiler of this one - see if he can defeat Mark ... and keep watching all the way to the end!

See the video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbFuIAcA3NE 

April Reward Sudoku: Everything Wrogn is on Fire

Hello Everyone,

Thank you so much for supporting us on Patreon!  You enable us to do everything we do on the channel and here.  We are incredibly grateful.

DiMono's puzzle Everything is Wrogn (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfIomUELg6c) caused quite a sensation when it appeared on the channel, and today we are delighted to bring you his follow-up Everything Wrogn is on Fire.<...