Money

Keep the clues free.

When people show up, we can pay for cryptic.fit without a paywall. Ads are one way. They are not switched on yet. They will never sit on the answer or talk over the seven-second pause.

1. YouTube is the main bet.

The two daily Shorts on the cryptic.fit channel are where hits turn into money. YouTube’s Partner Program pays a share of ads in the Shorts feed once the channel has 1,000 subscribers and 10 million Shorts views in 90 days (or 4,000 hours of long-form watch time). Until then YouTube may still run ads — we just don’t get a cut.

At 500 subscribers, Super Thanks and memberships can open first. Same Google AdSense account can later cover the website.

2. A small ad on the site.

Once cryptic.fit is live, Google AdSense can put one labelled display unit under the pair. Manual placement only — no Auto ads, no ads inside Solve, no ads on a single-clue spoiler page. The UK needs a consent banner before any ad cookie is set; ads stay off until that is in place.

AdSense can refuse sites that mostly reprint other people’s puzzles. We write original pages (this one, About, how the agent works) and we credit all — the setter, the paper, and the photograph. Approval is not guaranteed. If Google says no, we skip site ads and lean on YouTube and sponsors.

3. Sponsor a week.

A crossword dictionary, a pen, a bookshop: one quiet line under the pair for seven days. Better money per reader than a banner, and it stays on-brand. Write to aledmorgan@gmail.com.

Rules.

The clue stays free. Solve stays a tap, not a paywall.
No ad on the answer, the parse, or the spoken pause.
Parses still come only from the original posts.
TikTok, Instagram and Facebook are for reach. Their creator funds are extra if they ever qualify — not the plan.