Ben

76-79 I’ve become terrible at updating my thread, though at least I’m still doing it. Dirk Gently was a bit of a disappointment ***; SKSG was daft and somewhat holey of plot **; Magician’s Nephew had some wonderful moments ***; The Haar was gruesome, sad, silly and then more gruesome ****.

The fun sequel to this post is that they managed to only deliver 2/3 of the items on the order.

Deliveroo: it’ll be 40-70 minutes, would you like to pay £2 to make it quicker?

Me: ok.

Deliveroo: cool, it’ll be 35-65 minutes. Also, we’re charging £5.50 for “service” and “delivery”, two abstract concepts that are already clearly implicit in this transaction. Cool?

Me, hungry: 😐 ok.

So obvious, after spending half an hour assuming the definition was an indicator 🙄 Minute Cryptic - 22 October, 2025
"Private investigator losing 50 from roulette spin" (9)
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🏆 0 hints – 2 under the community par (24,988 solvers so far).
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

Definitely some numbers are heftier than others. We’re veering close to my OCD obsession with powers of two here. They all ooze integrity, especially 64, which may actually be the best number there is 😂

And integer. I enjoy the unintentional emotional heft that the mathematical concept of a whole number has.

One of my colleagues left to work at Urenco. I don’t know what the job even is but it seems to be sitting at a computer, being happy, and getting paid slightly less money.

L (7 year old) and I have started reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at bedtimes. It’s really wholesome and nice. That’s the post.

I appreciate that that isn’t a helpful reply at all.

If I knew that, I’d probably be doing it.

Some things are unforgivable.

Another published clue from my brothers-in-law before I’ve successfully finished writing one. Not that it’s a competition. MC 6.10.25
"Rejected dwarf Bashful left plushy toy unfinished" (5)
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🏆 0 hints – 2 under the community par (20,828 solvers so far).
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

100% agree. I wish we could do more of those three things, but alas I’m not in charge of Catholic education in the UK. Our scheme (Vine and Branches) does at least have one half term a year in which it reaches out to other religions, but it’s not enough IMHO.

No, because I teach in a Catholic school so it’s “the core of the core” - more important than anything else (which realistically puts it third).

Minute Cryptic - 27 September, 2025
"Dressing naked pair for clip" (5)
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🏆 0 hints – 2 under the community par (25,173 solvers so far).
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

I love After The Fall - such a beautiful ending!

It’s one of the best ever, but if I hadn’t seen the crucial detail at 4:30am I would probably still be stuck and hate it.

🤯🤯🤯Minute Cryptic - 24 September, 2025
"12 - 55 n = 9 - 12" (5)
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🏆 0 hints – 4 under the community par (22,033 solvers so far).
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

Shion Miura’s The Easy Life in Kamusari; Raj Kamal Jha’s The Blue Bedspread; Hannah Arendt’s The Human Condition

73-75 Forgot about this thread, and reading has been hard going this last few weeks due to the exhaustion of September evenings. Human Condition **** (heavy, not as interesting as Origins of Totalitarianism). Blue Bedspread *** (unsettling, moving in part but not enjoyable). Kamusari *** (breezy)

Knew exactly what to do here straight away, but the anagram took me about 20 minutes.

Minute Cryptic - 20 September, 2025
"Religious space cosmonaut struggling with lack of oxygen" (7)
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I scored: 3 under par
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

So enjoyable. Minute Cryptic - 17 September, 2025
"Every prime cut from homebred cattle?" (4)
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I scored: 2 under par
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

Be a shame if they started repeating ova and ova again.

Minute Cryptic - 5 September, 2025
"Fifty-one trillion litres, to be precise" (7)
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I scored: 3 under par
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

“Oddly cancelled” = remove the odd letters.
Exhibit -> x i i

Roman numerals innit.

Ah man! Applied the logic of the clue, didn’t see how that could be the answer. Took all the hints; worked it out. Minute Cryptic - 4 September, 2025
"Midday exhibit oddly cancelled?" (6)
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I scored: 1 over par
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

Minute Cryptic - 31 August, 2025
"Green vines tangled around outcropping" (7)
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I scored: 1 under par
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

64-72. Kindle reads over the two weeks on the big boat. Too many to detail but How Fascism Works and Mornings in Jenin were particularly brilliant, as was White Noise (read for the first time since week 1 of my degree, 23 years ago 😬). Now WAAAY ahead of my 100 in a year target!

Ian Rankin’s Midnight and Blue

Louis de Bernières’ Labels (and other stories)

David Goldblatt’s The Age of Football, a book for which the word “exhaustive” may have been invented.

61-63. Borrows from the library on deck 16 of the big boat. The Rankin was fun (made me want to go back and read the early Rebus books, and I think I will - ****); de Bernières’ short stories were largely fun but lightweight ***; the Goldblatt book was epic in scale and expertly written *****

209 clue streak about to end. Not to mention 733 on TeacherTapp. Ah well.

Minute Cryptic - 14 August, 2025
"Was it comforting to snuggle friends, perhaps?" (6)
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I scored: 2 under par
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

An out of focus picture of Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy, in which the photographer hasn’t even bothered to crop out his own hand holding the book.

60. Now this was excellent. Clever and funny and deep and yes, maybe a little bit pretentious, but maybe the best fiction I’ve read this year so far. *****