Cracking the Cryptic

{{short description|British YouTube channel about sudoku and other puzzles}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}

{{use British English|date=June 2020}}

{{Infobox YouTube personality

| name = Cracking The Cryptic

| logo = File:Cracking The Cryptic logo.png

| logo_caption = Current channel logo

| logo_alt = The words "Cracking the Cryptic" in front of an unfinished Sudoku puzzle

| image =

| caption =

| presenter = {{Unbulleted list|Simon Anthony|Mark Goodliffe}}

| origin =

| nationality = British

| website = {{URL|https://www.patreon.com/crackingthecryptic}}

| channel_handle = CrackingTheCryptic

| channel_display_name = Cracking The Cryptic

| years_active = 2017–present

| genre = Puzzle

| subscribers = 650 thousand

| views = 259 million

| stats_update = 13 June 2025

| associated_acts = {{Flatlist|

• Tom Collyer{{cite AV media |title=World Class Sudoku Solver Shares His Tricks! |type=YouTube

|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to3pJNhi8jU | date=8 April 2019 |access-date=19 March 2022

|last1=Anthony |first1=Simon |last2=Collyer |first2=Tom}}

• Kurt Hugo Schneider{{cite AV media |title=This Puzzle Trick Is Not Cheating! |type=YouTube

|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XObunchQvR4 | date=24 April 2020 |access-date=19 March 2022

|last1=Anthony |first1=Simon |last2=Schneider |first2=Kurt Hugo}}{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n23BHxpMjY0|title=YouTubers Solve Sudoku With Simon: Episode 3: Kurt Hugo Schneider|publisher=YouTube|access-date=2025-03-10}}

• Tantan Dai{{cite AV media |title=The Fastest Female Sudoku Player Ever |type=YouTube

|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuIHDxowMWM | date=14 February 2021 |access-date=19 March 2022

|last1=Anthony |first1=Simon |last2=Goodliffe |first2=Mark |last3=Dai |first3=Tantan}}

}}

| silver_button = yes

| silver_year = 2020

}}

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. They occasionally stream puzzle videogames on YouTube.

The channel was set up in 2017 by two friends from England: Simon Anthony, a former investment banker, and Mark Goodliffe, a financial director.{{cite news |last1=Clinton |first1=Jane |title=Suduko solving aces become unlikely YouTube stars during lockdown |url=https://inews.co.uk/light-relief/offbeat/sudoku-solving-aces-simon-athony-mark-goodliffe-youtube-coronavirus-lockdown-430588 |access-date=3 July 2021 |work=inews.co.uk |date=22 May 2020}} Anthony is a former member of the UK's world sudoku and world puzzle championship teams, while Goodliffe is a 13-time winner of the Times Crossword Championships and UK sudoku champion.{{cite magazine |last1=Johnson |first1=Tom |title=Fifty years of The Spectator crossword |magazine=The Spectator |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/fifty-years-of-the-spectator-crossword |access-date=3 July 2021 |date=3 July 2021}}

Each video is generally composed of one of the two hosts presenting a puzzle with given rules and then solving it in real time, with their live commentary. The channel features both standard and variant puzzles.{{cite news |last1=Bellos |first1=Alex |title=Can you solve it? Sandwich sudoku - a new puzzle goes viral |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/may/06/can-you-solve-it-sandwich-sudoku-a-new-puzzle-goes-viral |access-date=26 May 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=2019-05-06 |language=en}}

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the channel grew in popularity, and {{as of|2025|06|023|df=yes|lc=yes}} it had 650,000 subscribers, with the most popular video receiving nearly 10 million views.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/may/22/cracking-the-cryptic-puzzled-uk-men-become-internet-sensation-with-sudoku-channel |title=Puzzled man solving 'miracle' sudoku becomes YouTube sensation |first=Simon |last=Usborne |date=22 May 2020 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=31 March 2021}}{{cite news |url=https://ftw.usatoday.com/2020/05/watch-this-genius-solve-insanely-difficult-sudoku-puzzles |title=Watch this genius solve insanely difficult sudoku puzzles |first=Nick |last=Schwartz |date=21 May 2020 |website=USA Today |access-date=31 March 2021}}{{cite news |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/comment/cracking-the-cryptic-how-the-healing-art-of-sudoku-became-a-youtube-sensation-1.1151242 |title=Cracking the Cryptic: How the healing art of sudoku became a YouTube sensation |first=Rhodri |last=Marsden |newspaper=The National |date=23 January 2021 |access-date=31 March 2021}}

The music played at the beginning and end of many videos is Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 16, nicknamed Sonata facile or Sonata semplice.{{cite news |last1=Bell |first1=Alice |title=These sudoku YouTubers are about to become your favourite game streamers |url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/these-sudoku-youtubers-are-about-to-become-your-favourite-game-streamers |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=Rock, Paper, Shotgun |date=7 September 2021 |language=en}}