Hello cryptic crossword fans and Unch solvers.
A favour please: if you are in touch with other solvers and cryptic people outside of Bluesky please consider spreading the word.
Thank you x
I'm hoping she'll let me do some solving soon.
A slightly elderly tuxedo cat does the backwards banana on top of issue three of Unch magazine. On a grey carpet.
UNCH @unchcrosswords.com
Done and done. As in done twice, one for my dad because The Big
Man's Gotta Unch.
Issue 2 is selling fast!
Secure a copy at unchcrosswords.com
Me too! Thank you, it's a lovely thing
(alt text because i was neglectful: a hand holds a copy of issue 2 of unch magazine in front of a faux-vintage map of Australia for some reason. Fingers apparently supplied by the Michelin Man)
Ooh ooh it's @unchcrosswords.com - a little bit of tangible joy
Announcing? I won't say anything about the issue 2 pre order I've definitely not already put in then
Ok fine world, let me know about @unchcrosswords.com right after issue 1 has sold out why don't you
Today's soundtrack is Makthaversakan, the dreamy Swedish shoegaze soundtrack to a youth I didn't actually have but somehow remember fully and fondly? This is all @ycjygames.bsky.social fault.
open.spotify.com/album/3g0FM9...
Were you also there for that second one? Fond memories of that weird show, but it can't possibly be 12 years ago
Man, typewriters trigger a really distinct smell memory for me. Dunno if it's the oil or the ink or what, but I see a typewriter and I can smell a typewriter.
I hope your typewriter smells good, I guess?
A lovely man. I was very lucky, as a junior hammering tech magazines into shape, to have Chris' excellent words to put in print - and his even more excellent personality on the other end of them.
A big ol' aerial picture of Bristol Zoo Gardens, taken some time in the 1980s we think. It's on a wall next to a smaller picture of a frog, an even smaller picture of a shrimp, and a canvas covered in colourful splats
It has taken me until now to get it on the wall.
Oh boy there's some recent Milkshake Duck to report on this one Maff www.sportskeeda.com/us/streamers...
I'm more a 13,000 unread and absolutely no capacity for personal memory thus a complete reliance on the inbox kinda guy
At the Bristol Downs fireworks one year, he quite spitefully did a cover of American Pie before he'd play One and Only. He did all the verses, including the deleted seventh one.
Frequently. Particularly when on holiday. Oh, did we bring Smokey? No, that is a fat jumper.
I am unreasonably upset that i used a clue on today's minute cryptic
I would be remiss not to mention @sumosoul.bsky.social, an account on which you can watch the stuff that matters; Aonishiki's recent clashe with Hoshoryu, for instance, is a banger
Anyway, that's it. Try watching sumo, you'll like it, and highlights mean you can be up to speed in like 20 minutes a day.
Other channels pop up now and then with better highlights, more information, and livestreams which are reasonably convenient to watch in the UK, but these tend to get shut down pretty fast. I'm currently keeping up via Don Don Sumo, which has good technique breakdowns: www.youtube.com/@dondonsumo2
If you don't yet watch sumo, you can! NHK uploads highlights to YouTube when it can be bothered www.youtube.com/@NHKWORLDJAPAN
Kotozakura, multiple boobs partially covered by his big apron
Also can't ignore Kotozakura, currently the only second rank (Ozeki) rikishi. One, because of his magnificent double boob configuration, and two because I don't like Kotozakura and it's fun to watch him struggling at the moment.
Takayasu is very disappointed in you
I have to mention Takayasu, mainly because he's an old hairy fella that really looks like he's had enough of your shit
Abi, pictured in a rare moment of not sidestepping
...Abi. Cheeky in a different way, Abi absolutely loves a henka. That's when you sidestep your opponent at the initial charge leaving them flailing to the clay. Quite why nobody has worked out that he's absolutely going to do this is beyond me; it's disrespectful, sure, but it wins bouts (sometimes)
Ura, in yellow, but he's better in pink
Ura. Who doesn't love cheeky chappy Ura, with his hot pink mawashi and plucky spirit? He's basically the Rey Mysterio of Sumo, coming up with creative ways to use his opponents' size against them and generally doing his best for the kids. A babyface through and through. Unlike:
Aonishiki, in dress apron, looking as if he really doesn't want his picture taken thank you
Aonishiki is Ukranian, with a freestyle wrestling background that's been completely bamboozling his opponents. He's 21, which is just unfair, and smaller than many opponents, but he's beginning to tear up the top Makuuchi division. The sky's the limit - Mystic Meg predicts Ozeki rank soon.
Kayo, in dress apron, looking very pleased with himself
The polar opposite of Asakoryu is Kayo. If you've ever wondered what it would look like if an egg decided to take up Sumo, this guy - short, round, immovable - has you covered.