Cracking the Cryptic explained

Cracking the Cryptic (CTC) is a YouTube channel dedicated to paper-and-pencil puzzles: primarily sudoku, but also cryptic crosswords and other types of number-placement, pencil, and word puzzles. They occasionally stream puzzle games on YouTube.

The channel was set up in 2017 by two friends from England: Simon Anthony, a former investment banker, and Mark Goodliffe, a financial director.^[1] Anthony is a former member of the UK's world sudoku and world puzzle championship teams, while Goodliffe is a 13-time winner of the Times Crossword Championships and UK sudoku champion.^[2]

Each video is generally composed of one of the two hosts presenting a puzzle with given rules and then solving it in real time, with their live commentary. The channel features both standard and variant puzzles.^[3]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the channel grew in popularity, and it had 600,000 subscribers, with the most popular video receiving nearly 10 million views.^{[4] [5] [6]}

The music played at the beginning and end of many videos is Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 16, nicknamed Sonata facile or Sonata semplice.^[7]

Other activities

The channel has produced nine Sudoku apps based on Sudoku variants: Classic, Chess, Miracle, Sandwich, Thermo, Killer, Arrow, Domino and Line Sudoku.

In October 2020, a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign was announced in order to produce a physical book with some of the channel's most popular puzzles. The campaign reached its initial target within 24 hours.^[8] A second volume was funded in October 2022.

In addition to paper-and-pencil puzzles, the pair stream puzzle video games such as The Witness, Baba Is You and Return of the Obra Dinn.

External links

• • Web site: CTC Fan Server . 18 March 2022 . Discord.

Notes and References

1. News: Clinton . Jane . Suduko solving aces become unlikely YouTube stars during lockdown . 3 July 2021 . inews.co.uk . 22 May 2020.
2. Johnson . Tom . Fifty years of The Spectator crossword . The Spectator . 3 July 2021 . 3 July 2021.
3. News: Bellos . Alex . Can you solve it? Sandwich sudoku - a new puzzle goes viral . 26 May 2021 . The Guardian . 2019-05-06 . en.
4. News: Puzzled man solving 'miracle' sudoku becomes YouTube sensation . Simon . Usborne . 22 May 2020 . . 31 March 2021.
5. News: Watch this genius solve insanely difficult sudoku puzzles . Nick . Schwartz . 21 May 2020 . . 31 March 2021.
6. News: Cracking the Cryptic: How the healing art of sudoku became a YouTube sensation . Rhodri . Marsden . . 23 January 2021 . 31 March 2021.
7. News: Bell . Alice . These sudoku YouTubers are about to become your favourite game streamers . 13 October 2021 . Rock, Paper, Shotgun . 7 September 2021 . en.
8. Web site: Update 2: We've Funded!! Cracking the Cryptic's Greatest Hits . 31 March 2021 . Kickstarter.