crackingthecryptic

Wind in the Willows Solutions, part 1

Gridogram, with Glitches

Connect Four

Gridogram times Six

A Sucker for Connections

The Meanest Monthly Madness Crossword

Gridogram Gets Going

Connections on the Map

Two more daily puzzle games?

Some tough Connections

December Reward - The Wind in the Willows

Overthinking the Connections

Put Out More Flags - the results

Connections on the Slow Train

The Craziest Cryptic Crossword

Connections with a Slam Dunk?

Connections hitting the Iceberg

Mark had a streak of 112 correct Connections games as he starts this video. There are five days of Connections from the New York Times here, from 8th - 12th November.

See how he is doing by t...

Cruising the Connections

It's another five days of Mark tackling Connections from the New York Times - the standard has been a bit variable lately, but maybe things are getting a little more manageable ... maybe?

Che...

Mark takes on another Listener (Knockout)

This is another video of Mark tackling another Listener (themed, cryptic) crossword, without any preparation. The puzzle is Listener no 4,885, Knockout by Harribobs from September 12th 2025.

The Hardest Connections Category Ever?

Mark runs into some difficulties as he tackles five more games of Connections, from the New York Times 29th October - 2nd November.

You can watch the video here: 2025-11-03 09:15:01 +0000 UTC View Post

November Reward - Put Out More Flags

Hello Patreons!

UPDATE! An edit to puzzle 2 means a useful solution message will appear this time!

Thank you so much for supporting the channel. We are delighted to bring you November'...

The Mad Monthly Club Special Cryptic

It's a bonkers cryptic crossword today from the Times Monthly Club Special, for September - it's by Roger Phillips, and it's tough, tough, tough!

You can see thw video here: 2025-10-31 09:00:23 +0000 UTC View Post

Is it Possible to Get a Century of Connections?

Mark has extended his longest Connections streak ever (previously 50) all the way to 97! Will he get to 100 ... or not?

He takes on five days of Connections from the New York Times, from 24t...

October Patreon reward - Successful Solvers

Dear Patreons! Thanks so much to those of you who sent in a solution to Extra Bite, by Skunkworks, our October Patreon reward. The attached pdf lists the people who submitted in time (by 20/10) and...

A Big Burst of Connections

Mark takes on a whole load - six days - of the Connections game from the New York Times, but this is not the easiest group of editions of the game!

See how he does here: 2025-10-24 09:15:12 +0000 UTC View Post

Connections - Easy and Hard

There seems to be a wide variability in difficulty level of these four goes at the New York Times's Connections - Mark not only tries to solve the puzzle but also to guess how hard it will have bee...

Spyder by Sabre, Mark's attempt, part 4

Mark starts bringing the code stuff together as he continues trying to finish Listener Crossword no 4,884, the incredible Spyder by Sabre - you can watch his attempt continue here: 2025-10-17 08:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post

Spyder by Sabre, Mark's attempt - part 3

Mark cracks on with trying to solve Spyder by Sabre, the tough Listener (cryptic) crossword from a few weeks ago. This is the 3rd video in the series.

Simon's efforts are already here on Patr...

Spyder by Sabre: Mark's attempt, part 2

Mark continues to try and solve Spyder by Sabre, the tough Listener (cryptic) crossword from a few weeks ago.

Simon's efforts are already here on Patreon, but Mark is enjoying himself too ......

Spyder by Sabre: Mark's attempt, part 1

A few days ago, Simon posted videos of his journey trying to solve Spyder by Sabre from the Listener, a series of incredible cryptic crosswords with themes.

Here's Mark's first foray into the...