Wordle 1,521 3/6* ⬛🟨⬛⬛⬛ 🟨⬛🟨⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

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

Minute Cryptic - 18 August, 2025 (I saw someone discussing an asylum seeker hotel protest on Facebook, and it's easy to dismiss those views as Fringe views, John Noble's Walter Bishop was sublime, but I was thinking about control, or lack of control, that makes specific things you can do something about more attractive to protest against than protesting about nebulous things that are more complicated. So, on face value, an asylum seeker is alleged, there is no further evidence given, to have commited an awful crime. No doubt some asylum seekers do commit awful crimes, because they're people and some people do commit awful crimes. No further evidence was supplied. My local newspaper has an "in the courts" section and most of the crimes are not committed by asylum seekers‡. It could be that asylum seekers disproportionately commit awful crimes but I don't think that's the case. Questions arise about a whole series of moments leading up to this point in the life of each of the people demonstrating, in a rich country, that they're protesting about things they can do something about, rather than things they can't, and why those people may be attractive to people who want them to demonstrate. The failures of the country itself as a cause of symptoms is a trickier proposition. Fringe was definitely one of the best popularly placed science fiction shows, had popular appeal, and Easter eggs from the start, that put Fringe on a par with the X-Files. Like the UK and Canada, Australia seems to excel at exporting good actors to rich countries. Fringe is currently on ITV-X if you're in the UK and can't be bothered demonstrating.) "Temperamental electric air conditioning unit starts malfunctioning under 90 degrees" (5) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 2 under par

Minute Cryptic

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‡

Kent courts latest news - Kent Live

Get all the latest news from courts in Kent

Wordle 1,520 3/6* ⬛🟨⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩⬛🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

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

Minute Cryptic - 17 August, 2025 (the degree to which I was thrown by this one was severe. Must think dumber. What I thought was "Nieces starting" is "NI" and looping it with "dash", another word for race, gave me "Danish" as the first word. Then I was thinking of pinwheels, as in Danish pastries, so "Danish Pin" . So I'm not sure whether it was a really clever misdirection or an inadvertently ambiguous clue. I'll watch their, excellent, explanation video later. I've been doing upwards of four things at once so luckily not much time wasted. It's not Danish or Dansk adjacent. I thought, and have reasonable reasons, the first word was Danish.) "Niece's starting to be captivated by looping race: lots of Hot Wheels?" (6,3) 🟡🟡🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 1 under par

Minute Cryptic

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Wordle 1,519 3/6* ⬛⬛⬛⬛🟩 🟩🟩⬛⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

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

Minute Cryptic - 16 August, 2025 (I slept like a log. I like sleeping like a log. I would like to stay in bed but real life is not just an intrusive thought and, besides, I want breakfast. I'm not sure if lack of empathy is a mental illness, and lack of empathy can be affected, or peer pressure influenced like an internet witch hunt, but, despite the song I don't want to trivialise mental health problems in any form. I have been there and my message to anyone suffering such problems is that other people know how you feel and care deeply about you getting through it because you getting through it makes their world, and therefore your world, better. Many people care even if you don't know them, things will change because change is inevitable and there are flickers of light in the dark even when they're hard to see. That said, I know, at least, 4 ladies like the lady in this song and I'm OK with them. So don't be too rude about my unforced empathy or admissions of weakness.) "Dry showerhead? Ring plumber fruitlessly" (5) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 2 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

The age of steam and coal did eventually give way to alternatives.

arXiv.org

Design and Characterization of Superconducting Nanowire-Based Processors for Acceleration of Deep Neural Network Training

Training of deep neural networks (DNNs) is a computationally intensive task and requires massive volumes of data transfer. Performing these operati...

Wordle 1,518 4/6* ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

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

Minute Cryptic - 15 August, 2025 (The worldle in that pattern is almost synchronicity. Although, I don't think almost synchronicity counts, 'almost' most things is like a pleasant, or not so pleasant, advertisment or reminder for most things. It was almost cheese, it almost killed me, I have almost solved it, it's almost a …, there is a large, and probably non exhaustive list of almosts. I'd take almost the best cheese if the alternative was almost the almost best cheese which is bounded by the best cheese at the top and almost cheese at the bottom. With potentially lots of "almost the" in between. Given the subjectivity involved maybe an infinite number although I don't think people are that interesting and assuming all adults on planet tried the same cheese and had slightly different perceptions of it that would be something significantly under 5 billion nested "almost the" because not everyone likes or eats any given cheese, answers would be quantised by the use of language or subjective numerical scales and clusters would form. I haven't thought it through and I want breakfast.) "Supply at party is unusually billed?" (8) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 3 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Reed-Solomon codes. CDs & Voyager. The chatbots I tried got that wrong and answered in terms so general it looked like it guessed from an encyclopedia and the internet. Which, in technical terms, is roughly what they did.

Wordle 1,517 4/6* ⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛ 🟨🟨⬛🟨⬛ 🟨⬛🟨⬛🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

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

Minute Cryptic - 14 August, 2025 (A more tricky Wordle than the Minute Cryptic today but that a subjective judgement. References to one of the 16 or so 64-bit registers common to x64 architecture is similarly obscure to many. Or the commonality between Compact Discs and the Voyager Space probe. Everything is a potential question for an AI except when it gets it wrong, which in fairness to AIs, and people, is something we're all going to be at least some of the time. The rise of chatbots very much highlights the need for critical thinking, maybe from infant school onward, because a paternalistic state regulatory approach, like the Online Safety Act, which charitably, or at least nominally, is about protecting kids, but hits sites like Wikipedia with state regulation of the identity of editors, therefore potentially blocking the UK, is going to encourage use of chatbots as primary sources of information. The idea of kids just been able to type in a porn site, or other, is pretty horrific but maybe there are less Chinese solutions that also protect kids with careless or technically less knowledgeable parents. The Encyclopedia Britannica is very good but its coverage of ongoing events is necessarily limited. That aside: chatbots are going to becone primary sources of information regardless of the current moral panic and critical thinking is going to become very important. I have never used AI to solve crossword clues because when I've tested that chatbots often get them wrong.) "Was it comforting to snuggle friends, perhaps?" (6) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 2 under par

Minute Cryptic

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Perplexity AI: What percentage of tencent's revenue is spent on programmers? https://www.perplexity.ai/search/what-percentage-of-tencent-s-r-b1Q5x7GpTEyI7SbiUPcltg

Wordle 1,516 4/6* ⬛🟨⬛🟨⬛ ⬛⬛🟨⬛🟨 🟨⬛🟨🟨⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

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

Minute Cryptic - 13 August, 2025 (I took longer with the Wordle but it does demonstrate what is nice about the kind of puzzles. I have basically got used to sleeping at 25C plus because there has been a lot hot weather recently. I am maybe a little grumpy. There is a "nationally significant" shortfall of water*. I am not impressed by the government's announcement page saying "Delete old emails and pictures as data centres require vast amounts of water to cool their systems" because data storage is, compared to computation, very cheap in environmental terms and iin terms of cost of hardware/maintenance. What isn't so environmentally cheap is the rise of AI based on varieties of LLMs which categorically do require vast amounts of water to cool and which the UK government is encouraging because like the underpants gnomes the compute gnomes say "Phase 1. Gather compute. Phase 2. ??? Phase 3. Profit" and pretty much all future growth predictions are predicated on the basis of internet or motorway levels of productivity gains in economically important areas. I am not wholly an AI sceptic but take the worst case, for programmers, something like 6% of the UK workforce are programmers and they're all replaced, or significantly aided, by LLM based AI, does that represent significant overall gains in productivity or GDP, can it be replicated in all sectors? What is the environmental cost of using LLMs in the present way which is, essentially, intelligent regurgitation machines? I think potentially the gains are disproportionate to the outlay and potentially the enshittification will be staggering. I will be ecstatic if I am wrong and I hope I am wrong.) "Even Tom Cruise chases female attention" (5) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 2 under par

Minute Cryptic

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*

GOV.UK

National Drought Group meets to address “nationally significant” water shortfall

Five areas remain in drought with six more in prolonged dry weather

Wordle 1,515 3/6* ⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛ 🟩🟨🟨⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

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

Minute Cryptic - 12 August, 2025 (I'vr got to get faster at anagrams. Not got to, that's an odd way of putting it really, I want to get better at anagrams. I also want to deal with a phobia of brightly coloured socks, in fairness only when said socks are worn by clowns — I'm otherwise fine with clowns or bright socks, a phobia of heights, with caveats, and learn how to play bridge. I wish I could pretend they're priorities but right now it's breakfast. Bridge appeals to me but I think it's a commitment. I quite like the idea of a drunken bridge club, but it's not very sensible. Maybe it already exists as an underground scene among the elderly of places like Tunbridge Wells, like chemsex, but the tricks are card based and less likely to put your back out. Chembridge. Occasionally a person may meet people who went to Cambridge at chembridge and depending on how far into the evening the words may be, more or less, differentiated.) "House cat got fixed by vet centre" (7) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 2 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,514 4/6* ⬛🟩⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟩⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

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

Minute Cryptic - 11 August, 2025 (Another tricky one, or at least I found it tricky, I really should be keeping a book of notes on these because writing stuff down as an adjunct to praxis aids thinking. It was an enjoyable clue. It's also where Minute Cryptic can be difficult even with the low par clues because in an ordinary crossword most people would have filled in the anagram clues that were relatively easy, assuming they weren't a reference to an incident with Alexander the Great's nanny with a billy goat, and pencilled in other low hanging fruit which isn't at all sour.) "Gravity department's brief introduction to Hawking" (5) ⚪️🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 1 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,513 6/6* (bumbags, but inevitable bumbags. I used to say arse but worried about younger relatives copying swearing, so then I started saying ballbags. Which was fine until the quite autistic nephew shouted ballbags in a packed out CeX after dropping a Thomas and Friends DVD. Bumbags is, admittedly, adjacent.) ⬛⬛🟨🟨⬛ ⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

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

Minute Cryptic - 10 August, 2025 (I found this one very difficult and retrospectively I shouldn't have found it difficult. I think it's because I had too good a night's sleep and still haven't woken up. There is a, potential, post hoc fallacy in the previous sentence because it could be that I had a good night's sleep because I was tired and was still tired when I woke up. I am thinking about nut roast rather more than is normal. If anything that was the fault - I overthought. I needed to underthink. Maybe start streaming the "Feeling good in the 90s" playlist which I've already overthought by considering that I didn't always feel good in the 90s and also that a playlist aimed at the over 90s would not be commercially viable. There will be a time when the playlist for the over 90s primarily consists of music from the 90s. Soft food and Whigfield's Saturday night segueing to The Offspring's I Choose, as the audience for Whigfield terminally declines and the 90s music for the over 90s joke loses all cultural relevance. Music unrelated.) "Server's mistake leads to food arriving unusually late today" (5) ⚪️🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 1 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,512 4/6* ⬛⬛🟨🟨⬛ 🟨🟩🟨⬛🟨 🟨🟩🟨⬛🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

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

Minute Cryptic - 9 August, 2025 (good clue. I didn't solve it in the most satisfying way because — I can't really explain without spoilering the clue more than is fair through words. Assuming people read quickly. I've learnt that ltype of clue for next time. The song is very laterally connected. A busy day ahead‡.) "Dave stupidly accepted $0.01 for $0.02?" (6) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 3 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

‡ Maybe what follows is a British-ish joke because Ringo Star didn't narrate the US Thomas the Tank Engine. In the US it was George Carlin and Alec Baldwin. After Ringo Star it was Michael Angelis. That was mostly the golden age of Thomas IMHO. Although Calling all Engines and Day of the Diesels were good*: * Although it may seem like I love Thomas the Tank Engine I don't hate it but it's not something I'd watch. One of my nephews, now an adult, is fixated on Thomas so I've had over a decade of absorbing it. I am both amused and horrified.

Wordle 1,511 4/6* (1/2 on 3) ⬛⬛🟨🟨⬛ 🟨⬛🟨🟨⬛ ⬛🟩🟨⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

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

Minute Cryptic - 8 August, 2025 (I have woken up with moderate rib inflammation, and, despite the distraction, I didn't find the clue that difficult. Linking a song to the clue was very difficult. I do like this track, but like much of Sigur Ros' music it's the distilled bittersweet memory of hanging out with teachers at a late summer festival, the reality that it was just ephemeral, and they have to go back to marking.) "Song at night club leaves Lucy transfixed by mirrorball?" (7) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 4 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,510 3/6* 🟨🟨⬛⬛⬛ 🟩⬛🟨🟨⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

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

Minute Cryptic - 7 August, 2025 (I woke a little while ago and did these, which didn't turn out too badly because they weren't ones that made me think too much.) "Hate a self-absorbed flirt" (5) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 2 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,509 3/6* ⬛🟩⬛🟨⬛ 🟩🟩🟩⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

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

Minute Cryptic - 6 August, 2025 (If I had to come up with a short phrase for today it would be "pleasantly badgered". The evil twin of that is "unpleasantly badgered". Which could be being asked annoying or uncomfortable questions, right through to bargaining with an annoyed honey badger. Childcare for a nephew. Deealing with grown-ups can be like that and, within reason, sometimes, we put up with it.) "The one devastated volunteer to miss "One Direction"" (4,4) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 3 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,508 3/6* 🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

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

Minute Cryptic - 5 August, 2025 (this a great clue because it's entirely logical and all in the clue. I like ones like that because other than a familiarity with the form and kind of tricks used it doesn't require knowledge of a whimsical 1970s comic about a young goatherder from Portofino who has japes and a wry outlook on life. The protagonist's enemy is Alessandro who runs a speedboat hire company and things happen like the goats stealing the picnics of posh people at the dock and goats terrorising newspaper shops by chewing at the headlines. Tutti amano le capre. The answer was birichino. The broadsheets can be depressing sometimes. Unlike my breakfast, which will be glorious.) "Abor_ fr__nd_hip!?" (3,4) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 3 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,507 3/6* ⬛🟨⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛🟨🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

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

Minute Cryptic - 4 August, 2025 (I had a poor night's sleep and it feels like I've repeatedly been punched in a back by the leprechaun from the film Leprechaun through to Leprachaun 4: Leprechaun in Space. But not Leprechaun in Da Hood which is where it got a bit silly. I am quite looking forward to breakfast but I batch cooked a violently spicy curry for dinner, which tastes good, but as a dinner is a bit like a minor feat of endurance. I'm sure I'll be used to it by Friday or maybe before.) "Deadly agent playing phone tag" (8) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 3 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Wordle 1,506 3/6* ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle - A daily word game

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

Minute Cryptic - 3 August, 2025 (I want breakfast and I also want to write something. The simple answer is to write something and eat breakfast at the same time but the flaw in that plan is that I wouldn't feel truly present in either breakfast or writing something. I have found it takes an hour to detox from my phone before I engage in serious reading and the worst thing is that a phone makes it really easy to look up words or other information related to what I'm reading. If I had a servant I'd use them as a physical barrier between myself and the phone. So I could say "Wilson look up this up for me" without scrolling Instagram, Nostr, Tinder or doomscrolling elsewhere. A human phone Johnny. Although they could subvert the process by making stuff up. I think that's how some AI searches work. The revenge of the LLM.) ""Goodbye!" you blurted out, after ladies undressed" (5) 🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣 I scored: 2 under par

Minute Cryptic

Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

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