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Investment Banker Quits Job To Make YouTube Videos About Sudoku

Investment Banker Quits Job To Make YouTube Videos About Sudoku

He and his partner have more than 30 millions views in total

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

A man who used to be an investment banker has made a miraculous career U-turn and now makes his money solved Sudoku puzzles online for millions of YouTube viewers.

Forty-six-year-old Simon Anthony used to work in the City of London at a wealthy financial organisation, but gave it all up for his undying love of puzzling three years ago.

He packed it in and started up a YouTube channel with his mate and fellow puzzle enthusiast, 53-year-old Mark Goodliffe, and now they've got more than 210,000 subscribers, and have racked up millions of views.

The video ideas are simple. It's just one of the lads sitting in the corner of a screen while the puzzle dominates.

Then they work through the brainteasers, much to the delight of their enraptured fans.

The channel is called Cracking the Cryptic, and it started as a small operation in Simon's house in Reigate, Surrey.

Cracking the Cryptic

Now, while the production values haven't exactly gone through the roof - it's still pretty lo-fi - they've certainly increased their fanbase.

Shooting from 100 views to around 300 million in such a short space of time is pretty remarkable progress.

It's even more impressive when you consider that it's all just two blokes solving puzzles.

Simon said that they're getting a lot of contact recently telling them that they're helping people pass the time during the coronavirus lockdown.

He told The Guardian: "We're getting an awful lot of emails saying we're helping people with their mental health.

"There seems to be a sort of ASMR-type quality to the videos."

The pair claim that their channel is the biggest Sudoku channel on YouTube, and without wasting time, let's just believe them on that front.

Cracking the Cryptic

They met at a crossword championship 20 years ago before everything went online, and quickly became fast friends.

Oh, and they've got impeccable credentials, too.

Mark is currently The Times' reigning crossword champion and the UK Sudoku champion. Simon was a member of the UK team at the world Sudoku and world puzzle championships.

The pair have also released four apps and some merchandise, to boot.

This all means that Simon's decision to quit his job looks to have been a good one - even though he doesn't earn as much money.

He said: "I only did it for one reason and was constantly aware I was working my youth away."

Cracking the Cryptic

With some of their videos reaching as many as 3.4 million views, he's at least engaging with a bigger audience nowadays.

He's also garners famous fans like Countdown's Rachel Riley and - bizarrely - make-up YouTuber James Charles.

He recently tweeted: "I've officially unlocked a new level of boredom... currently watching videos of a man solving sudoku puzzles.

"The videos are SO interesting but also help me relax!"

So, there you are. What a good idea for some wholesome lockdown fun.

Featured Image Credit: Cracking the Cryptic

Topics: UK News, UK Entertainment, Weird