Cracking the Cryptic
Cracking the Cryptic | |||||||
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Personal information | |||||||
Born |
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Nationality | British | ||||||
YouTube information | |||||||
Channel | |||||||
Years active | 2017–present | ||||||
Genre | Puzzle | ||||||
Subscribers | 427 thousand[2] | ||||||
Total views | 98.8 million[2] | ||||||
Associated acts | |||||||
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Updated: 16 December 2021 |
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.
The channel was set up in 2017 by two friends from England: Simon Anthony, a former investment banker, and Mark Goodliffe, a financial director.[3][4] Anthony is a former member of the UK's world sudoku and world puzzle championship teams, while Goodliffe is a 12-time winner of the Times Crossword Championships and UK sudoku champion.[3][4] Each video shows one of the presenters attacking and solving a puzzle in real time, with their live commentary. The channel features both standard and variant puzzles.[5]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the channel grew in popularity, and as of 7 August 2020 it had 245,000 subscribers, with the most popular video receiving over 4 million views.[6][7][8][9][10][11] 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.[12] In September 2021, the channel passed 400,000 subscribers.[13]
The channel has produced seven Sudoku apps based on Sudoku variants: Classic, Chess, Miracle, Sandwich, Thermo, Killer, and Arrow Sudoku.
The music played at the beginning and end of many videos is Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 16, nicknamed Sonata facile or Sonata semplice.[14]
In addition to paper-and-pencil puzzles, the pair stream puzzle games such as The Witness, Baba Is You and Return of the Obra Dinn.[14]
References[]
- ^ Anthony, Simon; Hugo Schneider, Kurt. "This Puzzle Trick Is Not Cheating!". YouTube. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
- ^ a b "About Cracking The Cryptic". YouTube.
- ^ a b Clinton, Jane (22 May 2020). "Suduko solving aces become unlikely YouTube stars during lockdown". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ a b Johnson, Tom (3 July 2021). "Fifty years of The Spectator crossword | The Spectator". www.spectator.co.uk. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ Bellos, Alex (6 May 2019). "Can you solve it? Sandwich sudoku - a new puzzle goes viral". the Guardian. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
- ^ Bellos, Alex (18 May 2020). "Can you solve it? Sudoku as spectator sport is unlikely lockdown hit". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ Usborne, Simon (22 May 2020). "Puzzled man solving 'miracle' sudoku becomes YouTube sensation". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ Lancaster, Chris (1 June 2020). "Watching sudoku's a winner". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ Schwartz, Nick (21 May 2020). "Watch this genius solve insanely difficult sudoku puzzles". USA Today. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ Andrews, Farah (26 May 2020). "Puzzlingly compelling: watch a man solve 'miracle' Sudoku with only two numbers filled in". The National. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ Marsden, Rhodri (23 January 2021). "Cracking the Cryptic: How the healing art of sudoku became a YouTube sensation". The National. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ "Update 2: We've FUNDED!! · Cracking the Cryptic's Greatest Hits". Kickstarter. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- ^ Anthony, Simon (29 September 2021). The 400,000 Subscriber Puzzle (YouTube). Cracking the Cryptic.
- ^ a b Bell, Alice (7 September 2021). "These sudoku YouTubers are about to become your favourite game streamers". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
External links[]
- Sudoku
- English-language YouTube channels
- Internet stubs
- Game stubs