Minute cryptic

Got the answer straight away. Had to watch the twat in the video for the explanation.

He is such an arse. It really motivates me to work it out myself, so I don't have to watch his smug face and listen to his weird voice

2 under. Took the hint then kicked myself as I got it despite the hint

"The way to do this clue is to just understand how to do the clue, you brainless inbred."

Some people wear their education lightly. I read that in Private Eye yesterday. The rest of the put down was about Boris wearing his like a concrete overcoat.

Anyway. I took a hint and worked it out knowing it would be a "joke". Much like when English teachers laugh at the "jokes" in Shakespearean plays.

This.

I still don't understand some of the clue

I can confirm that today's answer is NOT "porno".

Hope that is not a spoiler for anyone.

still don't understand some of the clue

I can't recall the exact wording but the wordplay was :

Third letter of "play" - A
Shakespeare - BARD
Love (tennis score) - O

Put the last of those in the second, after the first, to get "ABOARD" which is defined by "on a ship".

1 under

Today’s was one of those that just wrote itself as I read the clue.
Yesterday took me all day coming back to it until I suddenly remembered “bard”

Definitely seeing the improvement that comes with practice. Guardian quick cryptic was pretty straight forward this morning.

Yes, no real issues with this.

1 under

2 under this morning

Even par 🙄

2 under today, giving me a total of 85 below par on a 49 day streak.

Twonder

Three over. Gave up. I'm a busy man, no time for these lies

Minute Cryptic - 21 October 2024
"Timber pruned with force for bark" (4)
⚪️🟡🟣🟣🟣
I scored: even par

2 under

Twunder. Easy peasy.

Got my half century streak.

Wonder

I feel like a need more of a challenge.

The Guardian quick cryptic I find quite boring, the clues are very samey.

I might have a go at the proper cryptic today and then crawl back into this thread with my tail between my legs....

Try the Everyman crossword, published in the Observer on Sundays. There's an archive on the Guardian website.

I reckon I've only finished a Guardian cryptic once or twice in my life, but the Everyman is more achievable.

I think it is the same setter every week so there's a style to the clues you get to know, and a few standard clue types used every week which are easy to recognise and good to get you started on the grid.

I'm sure it's been mentioned earlier, but Fifteensquared is a brilliant resource.

The regular Guardian cryptic depends on the setter, but overall is pretty hard. I don't have a huge sample size but IMO, ranked from easier to fucking impossible:

Quiptic<Everyman<Independent<Times<Guardian<Azed (Observer's other crossword)