The Times Crossword Friday Masterclass: Episode 41

I love how Simon often says things like he's not interesting at parties, but then every couple of videos reveals something fantastical he's done that average people never have like "I've white water rafted on the Zambesi" 😆

"Dunroamin" is a stereotypical name for a cottage or guesthouse - from "done roaming" i.e. a place to stay at the end of travel.

Do you know CTC featured in a clue in the Independent 11,571 (Nov 11th): Mark originally created ‘Cracking The Cryptic’ (4) Might be worth a bonus video…

42:50 This is how I imagine Simon responding to the initiation of nuclear Armageddon.

Another excellent solve. Thank you Simon. This is my weekly comment to help St Algorithmus understand the wonder of cryptic crosswords

I would have answered maybe 2 of those clues today. You made mince meat of what seemed to me a ridiculously hard puzzle. Bravo Simon. Keep them coming.

My best explanation: In the past, you might say something like "thou goest" for "you go". Perhaps it would be valid to say "thou disinterest" for "you dig up". This would explain both "you" at the start of the clue, and "from the past possibly". If that is the case, that question mark there is definitely warranted.

Well done Simon! Always love these. My best guess for "disinterest" is that "est" refers to an estimate, hence the "possibly", but I may be horribly wrong. I got seven before you today. However, I play a wretchedly underhand version of this game in which I allow myself to look at clues that you haven't seen yet. I justify this blatant cheating on the grounds that you're much better at cryptic crosswords than I am.

Good lord you were on the wavelength today, zipping through many I struggled with. Great solve!

This setter knows so many words I don't. Very good.

I'm in awe of this setter. There were so many beautifully crafted clues in this, some of them very inventive, like yell ow ow. Ell is valid for an annex according to Collins. I think the suffix -est on disinter is the old second person singular indicative, as in "dost thou knowest the way to San Jose?" as might have been sung by ye olde Dionne Warwicke. Dunroamin has a wikipedia page: "A stereotypical name for a cottage or guesthouse". It's the somewhat hackneyed name of the house, rather than a definition, which is probably why the question mark is there.

As I was walking all alane, I heard twa corbies making a mane; The tane unto the t’other say, ‘Where sall we gang and dine to-day?’ The first verse of The Twa Corbies. And Wat as in Angkor Wat of course.

Thanks for another enjoyable video! I'm working on solving cryptics, and it's challenging to get your head around as a newbie. So these videos are really invaluable for me!

Despite being American, I know "Dunroamin" (an English stereotypical name for a cottage where some young couple has settled down, from "done roaming" but faux celtic or something) because of reading Terry Pratchett. In the Discworld series, the gods reside in their celestial home, Dunmanifestin.

The correct parsing of disinterest refers to a jocular idea of someone in the Middle Ages saying thou disinter-est.

Brilliant from you today Simon!! Thank you so much for continuing these! Fascinating to me how you quickly come up with answers!

Yes, Io is a moon of Jupiter and it's one of the four Galilean moons (the biggest ones). These moons are typically visible by most telescope on nights when Jupiter is out (unless you are unlucky, and all four moons are either directly in front or behind Jupiter). The name Io comes from Greek myth; Io was one of the many mortal lovers of Zeus, and was the ancestor of many great kings and heroes, including Heracles.

Really enjoyed the lesson. My homework this week is to memorise the names of the nine muses. Please keep these coming, they are much appreciated.

I love these videos. Please keep 'em coming!

Ell, as used for a building wing or annex, is an extremely common bit of “crosswordese” - a relatively uncommon word that shows up frequently as a filler word in American crosswords (much like “lee” and “alee”). Usually in the US, “el” refers exclusively to an elevated train.