Impossible? Try It

[hc4361]

This is supposed to be impossible for an 'ordinary' crossword to crack and could take an expert two years, it is claimed.

Give it a go!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5628921/Cryptic-crossword-hardest-fans-two-years-crack.html

[Old_Geezer]

Impossible for me. I need two weeks to do The Sun coffee time.

[JJ109]

Hi Captain - nearly all are words that you have heard of, very few need to be looked up. I'd just come back to it after a short break and got 5 of the remaining ones. Just 43d and 54a left to do

[klazomaniac]

As jj said. Not much referencing is required. Just a lot of lateral thinking.
I,m down to my last 3
46a, 52a and 47d

Hit a brick wall. So time for some sun to rest the old grey matter.

[hc4361]

What a very clever lot you are. I'm no whizz at cryptic crosswords but will battle on.

[JJ109]

Finished - about 4 and a half hours, not including breaks. The last 7 took me an hour

[Captain2]

Well done JJ!! (the Thai air must be good for you). I'll be disappointed though if clues get asked on AB, and, more so, if answered.

[JJ109]

Thanks Captain - I agree
Klazomaniac and myself could have swopped answers earlier, as he had solved all the ones I was struggling with, and I had solved all the ones he was struggling with......but both of us wanted to finish it by ourselves.

The only thing I wil say is that on a couple of occasions I 3/4 parsed an answer that was completely wrong. If it doesn't parse completely don't insert it, it is likely to be wrong. Leave it until you have some more letters

[klazomaniac]

Finally completed after about 6hrs / 6.5 hrs.
47 D and 52A gave me a headache. Once 47D had landed, 52A fell straight into place.

Thoroughly enjoyed it, but glad its over.

As jj said. If you cannot parse it 100%. Then it's probably wrong.
This is an error free crossword that parses 100%

Good luck to others attempting this. Stick with it, it's worth it.

[klazomaniac]

Ps. Well done jj on a very respectable time.

[nescio]

for the supposedly hardest crossword, some of the clues are ridiculously easy - e.g. 13A, 6A,7D, 51A, plus several others

[JJ109]

Well done also Klazamaniac
You will no doubt agree that not a single clue was impossible. There were some easy answers if you saw them straight away, but many required lateral thinking and were not so easy as others. Overall it was thoroughly enjoyable, and definitely not impossible.

[klazomaniac]

Not impossible as you say.
But 47D gave me a very big headache until I checked an alternative spelling to how I know the word. As that fitted with my crossers, It was all wrapped up in seconds.

I've submitted my copy in the hope I may be an early entrant. But I suspect that a lot more folk have got in there before me as I didn't start till yesterday evening.

Either way. We can be happy that we have conquered the 'Worlds Hardest Crossword'

Might put that on my CV along with Minter (As I once forged an English 1p into a 1c at the Perth Mint)

I won't wait for the job offers to come rushing in !!

[klazomaniac]

Just had an E-mail from Marc Breman.



Well done. John.

This started as a bit of fun, coming up with the toughest puzzle I could, mainly in response to some of the papers I supply with crosswords asking me to make them easier. I was about to put it on my website, when the PR company, whom I'd hired to publicise my novel The Foggiest Notion heard about it and thought it would make a good tie-in story, (with that horrible 'world's hardest' title, never comfortable with that), using the book as a prize. Amazingly, the story made the front page of the online editions of the Telegraph, Mail, Mirror, ITV - very strange.

Anyway, you are only the sixth person to send the correct solution, so thanks for the address, and a signed hardback copy of the novel will shortly be on its way (as soon as the next batch reaches me from the printer's. Give it about a week...)

Thanks again
All the best
Marc



I'm stoked !!
Never won an Xword prize before. And only 6th too.
I would have been 7th if jj got in there first.

[JJ109]

Congratulations Klaz - living in Thailand, normally I am not eligible to enter. But I shall now check this one out

[klazomaniac]

Here's the link jj.
Look to the left and you will see 'Crossword submissions'
Just follow it from there.


http://www.marcbreman.london/postmarc/

[JJ109]

Can you add the link again please Klaz as that one doesn't work

[JJ109]

Ignore that - it worked on my third attempt - thanks

[hc4361]

How fab! Well done, Klazo and everyone else who proved it is not impossible .

I'll keep plodding on with it

[JJ109]

Thanks Klaz - I can't submit though. My PC will not open the submission page. I have submitted though via nick.enoch email address - but don't think that will be any good. The email address [email protected] just gets rejected obviously

[klazomaniac]

All thanks to you hc4361 for putting the link on here. I wouldn't have known about it otherwise.