Wordle 1,505 4/6* (annoying - number 3 had occured before but I didn't remember or check) ⬛⬛🟨🟨⬛ 🟨🟩⬛🟨⬛ 🟩🟩🟨🟨⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

Guess the hidden word in 6 tries. A new puzzle is available each day.

Minute Cryptic - 2 August, 2025 (Totally blanked and mucked this one up. Actually seems obvious in retrospect, but I don't think it was a 2 par clue - maybe it was because of the alignment with the definition, but it was more like a 3 or 4 par wordplay. Had I stuck to thinking about the definition rather than the wordplay it would have been at most one under par. That's subjective and maybe influenced by my performance. It probably is and I'm grateful for the mental challenge because that's a good way of learning. Although like with teaching kids stuff there's a difficulty balance because one wants it to be challenging without being impossibly difficult because of lack of familiarity with the form or vocabulary of the task or game. A busy day ahead that will involve much Thomas The Tank Engine. I find the song funny and it is a good song.) "Lead actor finally gets past misaligned teeth" (6) 🟡🟡🟡🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 1 over par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,504 5/6* ⬛⬛⬛⬛🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛🟩 🟨🟩⬛⬛🟩 ⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

Guess the hidden word in 6 tries. A new puzzle is available each day.

Minute Cryptic - 1 August, 2025 (deleted. I'm hungry.) "Top Easter egg of dozen, I think" (6) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 3 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,503 4/6* 🟩⬛🟨⬛⬛ 🟩🟩⬛🟨⬛ 🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

Guess the hidden word in 6 tries. A new puzzle is available each day.

Minute Cryptic - 31 July, 2025 (The last few weeks I have been mostly vegan, which isn't so bad because, unlike a lot of vegans, I can cook so haven't been relying on excessively priced UPF vegan ready meals and convenience food. And it tastes good. It isn't health reasons, although my BMI was just starting to push into overweight so I've kind of used it as an excuse to lose 2-3kg. My blood pressure and blood sugar were fine even when I was overweight - having access to testing kits while caring for a, as it turns out, more imminently dying father than I expected, although I think subconsciously I'd inferred it, allowed me to check my own periodically. I think the otherwise good stats are because my diet was otherwise good - I was eating too much but not badly, I don't drink soda/have sugar, or artificial sweetners, with drinks, and I walk. I could carry on being vegan indefinitely but I haven't been wholly vegan - I eat full fat yoghurt in the morning, had goats/cows cheese for lunch, and someone bought me a burger two weeks ago - I'm not going to waste it. I think we're fundamentally omnivores. And I don't want to be too tasty and herbivore-like if Armageddon comes. Although I'd be far from tender and a lot of vegans seem sinewy. I suppose the worst thing about diets is people going on about it. It has, or maybe I've deluded myself it has, improved a persistent flare up of spondyloarthritis. I think diet may play a big role. The best, most effective diet I went on, and recommend is Michael Mosley's Fast 800. I started it as a result of his death, my logic was if someone his age can die in such a silly, but otherwise noble, way, he's kind of like a diet Jesus.) "Architect plastered pole's spot?" (3,6) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 4 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,502 3/6* ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟨⬛🟨⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

Guess the hidden word in 6 tries. A new puzzle is available each day.

Minute Cryptic - 30 July, 2025 (I can't think of much to say and I want breakfast.) "Humans maybe evolved armpits to conserve energy" (8) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 3 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,501 4/6* ⬛⬛🟨⬛🟨 ⬛🟨⬛🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟨🟨⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

Guess the hidden word in 6 tries. A new puzzle is available each day.

Minute Cryptic - 29 July, 2025 (this one was very difficult and I basically brute forced it. What I mean by brute forced, in this context, is worked out what a probable part or parts of the word are and went through a dictionary until I found a probable match. It wasn't wholly following the clue. It's the least satisfying way of doing it other than guessing or getting clues. But it works. I tuned into Radio 4 to try and escape the football, and I really have no problems with other people enjoying football at one point my sister was a qualified football coach for a girls team, and pretty much all of my nephews/niece play football or have played it at some point, actually one of them prefers piano, but if there was one island of, actually now it has gone back to the grim news and I really don't want to have to delete what I have written. The news is grim enough the football seems more interesting. Woohoo - go sport! Not to poop on the football team who are all admirable and deserve praise/respect. I think penalties are like brute forcing a crossword clue and thus I deserve respect. And now Radio 4 has gone back to sport.) "Bully swung walking stick during fourth quarter of ballgame" (6) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 3 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,500 X/6* (*** ****'* ****) ⬛⬛⬛⬛🟨 🟩⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩⬛🟨⬛⬛ 🟩🟩⬛⬛🟩 🟩🟩⬛⬛🟩 🟩🟩⬛⬛🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

Guess the hidden word in 6 tries. A new puzzle is available each day.

Minute Cryptic - 28 July, 2025 (From a hard, and annoying, for me, Wordle to a quite easy Minute Cryptic. Not to go on about it too much, and it's good we won the sport, but I assumed the word was primarily British English. And if I do a news search, and this could be a fallacy, it appears far more often in its unattached form in British headlines. That could be a fallacy because the results could be tweaked to by location. And checking Google Ngrams it appears the opposite is true, at least in books, so maybe my news search is algorithmically biased. Given, outside of stuff like Nostr, there is little or no transparency for the underlying algorithms it gives some degree of plausible deniability for all the "sexy clown dating" adverts I keep getting. That's just bloody weird.) "Please... shaken not stirred" (6) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 2 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,499 3/6* 🟨🟨⬛⬛🟩 ⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

Guess the hidden word in 6 tries. A new puzzle is available each day.

Minute Cryptic - 27 July, 2025 (An enjoyable definition. Who are the best fans in the world? The answer is, of course, Thomas The Tank Engine fans. This is one of mantras I occasionally repeat with an autistic nephew and it's not just a platitude. The Thomas The Tank Engine Wiki on Fandom is everything every Wiki aspires to be but never quite gets there. Very useful. Exquisite in its detail and respect for Thomas the Tank Engine. I used it a lot on Saturday from about lunchtime through to early evening, we helped two hour shifts, predominantly Thomas, but including Peppa Pig and various other things in his personal cosmology, with digital collages, by about 7pm my brain was fried and I watched TV, listened to the radio and went to bed. TBF I haven't checked for a Trailer Park Boys or Kat Sadler's Screen Time wikis and they could be good. I'm a fan of both and can't be bothered.) "Business disinfected casino to conceal triple murder, perhaps?" (3) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 3 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Behold the greatest Wiki in the world by the best fans in the world: https://ttte.fandom.com/wiki/Thomas_the_Tank_Engine_Wiki

Wordle 1,498 3/6* ⬛🟨⬛⬛🟩 ⬛🟨🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

Guess the hidden word in 6 tries. A new puzzle is available each day.

Minute Cryptic - 26 July, 2025 (Tricky. I've woken up with a thousand thoughts and a low rate exiting my fingers. Speech would not be quicker, a fountain pen in Teeline turgidly torpid; on a diet, preoccupied by breakfast.) "Pair fouled by ref for enlarging balls" (3,4) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 3 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,497 2/6* (doesn't count - I vary my starting word and today I got lucky with the starting word. It's better than a 1 but worse than a 3 or 4.) 🟨🟨⬛🟩⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

Guess the hidden word in 6 tries. A new puzzle is available each day.

Minute Cryptic - 25 July, 2025 (this was a good newspaper style clue that has me scratching my head until it came to me, but there is another potential answer if one includes Paris. Although that would be a newspaper style stretch showing off the setter's knowledge of the classics - I had to supplement a very vague memory with Wikipedia. Which is fine. I'm not the fastest or the slowest learner. And I'm always open to being wrong. In fact I probably am wrong and I want breakfast.) "Think back about origin of Greek horse made of wood sometimes" (6) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 3 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,496 3/6* ⬛🟩⬛⬛🟩 ⬛🟩⬛⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

Guess the hidden word in 6 tries. A new puzzle is available each day.

Minute Cryptic - 24 July, 2025 (Woke at 4an, nightmare, spine inflamed and can't get back to sleep, but I'm basically OK. Which is like being OK but without optional extras such as being able to block out how grim reading the morning news is without having to think "well at least it's not airborne space AIDS". This was a satisfying clue but hard to find a song that didn't make the answer more obvious than it needs to be. I am looking forward to breakfast and I'm otherwise quite grateful. Basically grateful. Which is like being grateful but thinking "there are a thousand and one worse things, bloody hell there are a thousand and one worse things". It's all woefully self indulgent and I'm going to read a book..) "Flat, crustless half-size loaf" (4) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 2 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,495 3/6* (at least 1/3 on 3) ⬛⬛⬛🟨🟨 🟨🟨🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

Guess the hidden word in 6 tries. A new puzzle is available each day.

Minute Cryptic - 23 July, 2025 (I think I have encountered a similar one to this in The Telegraph's How To Solve A Cryptic Crossword, which to my discredit I woy read the first three or four chapters of, because I skipped ahead one chapter by accident and found I could do the puzzles, so just ended up doing most of the exercises and example crosswords. It wasn't quite a Baedeker Guide to the British petty bourgeoisie. More like a pamphlet. An AI hallucination of BBC Radio 4. I will finish itge Telegraph's guide at some point. Maybe. It was helpful and I'd recommend the book. That clue was similar but not the same and I'm confident I would have gotten the answer anyway. It's unlikely to be plagiarism because there are only so many ways to do that one and I'm not accusing anyone of consciously doing that. And I could be misremembering. And I can't be bothered to check. Unless the next one is a double definition for ptarmigan. Song unrelated. I'm only marginally hungry for breakfast today. I want to lose 2-3kg. My BMI is fine and the muscle density waist/ratio is good but I keep snacking so my weight has been edging up. I ate a lot of jellybeans on holiday. So I'm reversing that. So far so good. The song is unrelated.) "Nineties freestyle icon known for his energetic MC work?" (8) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 4 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,494 3/6* ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟨🟨⬛🟩⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

Guess the hidden word in 6 tries. A new puzzle is available each day.

Minute Cryptic - 22 July, 2025 (I could write something but I'm hungry.) "Get hanky out, choking on words of appreciation" (5,3) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 3 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,493 4/6* ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟨⬛🟨⬛ 🟩⬛🟨⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

Guess the hidden word in 6 tries. A new puzzle is available each day.

Minute Cryptic - 21 July, 2025 (Post universal internet, and not for crosswords, the international applicability of idioms is very interesting. I've observed some degree of convergence in relatives below the age of 20 or younger because of YouTube and Tiktok, mostly between American English and British English which are mostly similar with occasional contronyms that can lead to misunderstandings. But also via ghastly brainrot memes, basically deliberately obtuse or random often figurative art, and music from beyond English speaking countries. Maybe the great firewall of China has insulated both the Chinese and outside world from similar convergences and Italian Brainrot. It's mostly harmless. Anyone below age N likes stuff people above age N find inexplicable. Often anyway. The inverse of All Bran. Although I quite liked All Bran as a young person. Not as much as Crunchy Nut Cornflakes or hummus on wholemeal toast with butter.) "Edison half screwed a lightbulb?" (4) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 2 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,492 3/6* ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

Guess the hidden word in 6 tries. A new puzzle is available each day.

Minute Cryptic - 20 July, 2025 (a tricky one that I suspect some will just Intuit. Stopped listening to the radio at just after midnight. It was good. Prepped breakfast, then went to bed. Woke a few hours ago. When I say prepped breakfast I mean put 15gm of chia seeds, 20gm of raisins, 13gms of 85% chopped dark chocolate and 80gms of frozen blueberries, in a bowl and topped with 100gms of yogurt. The yoghurt acts as a seal slowing oxidation. I cover it and leave it in the fridge and I'll have it with 40gms of All Bran in a few minutes. Apart from the chia seeds it's pretty good. Chia seeds aren't awful. Without them it's basically desert. Sainsbury's seem to be shrinking the amount of All Bran they selll. They'll stop selling it once it's only myself and Noel Edmonds are buying it.) "Drinker’s release from prison initiated after back massage" (4) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 3 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,491 3/6* ⬛🟨⬛⬛⬛ 🟨🟨🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

Guess the hidden word in 6 tries. A new puzzle is available each day.

Minute Cryptic - 19 July, 2025 (I feel pretty good today. Aided by an open window and cooling rain all night. Normally I'd be thinking about what horribly grey weather it is going to be and how tedious it is going to be. But I slept well and the spondylopathy is way less bad, which could change, or not, I'm just grateful I've had a good night's sleep, which, between thinking and aching, was getting a bit tedious. It will be tedious another time. And I'd prefer to think with occasional tediousness, than not think with no occasional tediousness. The only people who think with no occasional tediousness aren't trying. I don't shun quirky women. Unless their quirk is punching me in the nuts. I think most people would agree that was fair enough.) "Cold guys heartlessly shun quirky women" (7) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 3 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,490 X/6* (well, now I know.) ⬛🟨🟨⬛⬛ 🟨🟩⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩 ⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩 ⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩 ⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

Guess the hidden word in 6 tries. A new puzzle is available each day.

Minute Cryptic - 18 July, 2025 (I found this one challenging and used a letter. I'm feeling it all a bit today, but it will pass. And if it doesn't pass I fully intend to delude myself I am fine. The song is unrelated; Circuit Des Yeux, and her Jackie Lynn alter ego(s), are good.) "Bound escapee heard admitting crime essentially" (4) 🟡🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 2 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,489 4/6* ⬛🟩⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟩⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟨🟩🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

Guess the hidden word in 6 tries. A new puzzle is available each day.

Minute Cryptic - 17 July, 2025 (I slept better. I'm not wholly 'with it' in the morning, but, I'm basically diurnal unless I've been doing stuff all night. And it's generally a pleasant 'not with it' – doing pleasant morning stuff, rather than having a psychotic argument with a thermostat about yoghurt.) "Today’s Wordle partly brought about yawning" (6) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 2 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

I would have preferred Psychic Type's Indigo Plateau rather than Marillion's Lavender but it's not as good a reference to the clue. Indigo Plateau is just adjacent. Lavender gives the mullet far more nobility than it deserves and I'm not sure I'd like to listen to it on speakers rather than headphones. I'm not drunk at a wedding reception.

Wordle 1,488 4/6* ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟨⬛⬛🟨 ⬛⬛🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

Guess the hidden word in 6 tries. A new puzzle is available each day.

Minute Cryptic - 16 July, 2025 (I got it with slight satisfaction, rather than full blooded satisfaction, because I got the wordplay after the solve. I am distracted by tiredness and, my own, irrationality. I worke at 3am, did Wordle, then attempted Minute Cryptic and felt increasingly stupid until I gave up and got a little bit of sleep. I'm still stupid today but got the correct answer. I have found Cory Calhoun's clues challenging in the past and I think he's a good setter.) "I love doing gymnastics with this extremely springy bunch?" (7) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 3 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning