Shajarur Kanta, and the mystery of the PORCUPINE anagram

Crossword sightings in Indian films are rare. And so I watched with great interest as Byomkesh Bakshi in Shajarur Kanta (2015) lingered on the puzzles section of the newspaper while holding forth on the art of murder.

A close-up shot of the crossword on the page revealed this:

What do we see? A blocked grid crossword, partly solved. A few cells are filled in here and there. Strangely, many of the filled cells are unchecked and the words they belong to are unsolved. How exactly is Byomkesh solving this crossword? Has he cracked the Nina before the individual clues? Is he filling in letters at random? Has he confused the crossword with the Sudoku?

We don’t learn the answers to these questions. But we do move on to bigger oddities in the adjacent Jumble section.

The PORCUPINE strikes

Check out the last jumbled word of the set: UCRONIPREP.

While our detective is talking about the efficacy of porcupine quills as lethal weapons, the Jumble has served him a Baader-Meinhonf moment: an anagram of PORCUPINE.

Except that UCRONIPREP is not an anagram of PORCUPINE.

Take a closer look at the image, and you see the font of UCRONIPREP does not match the other jumbled words, the empty squares run into the explanatory text. Makes one smell a porcupine rat: this word was not part of the original puzzle - the film makers have been up to mischief and tacked it on later.

Someone from the film team must have noticed the gaffe too. By the time the puzzle shows up on screen next, the superfluous R has miraculously vanished.

Byomkesh struggles with cracking that last anagram even after the correction.

He then sets the newspaper aside to meet a distraught client. While talking to this client, he has a PDM, exclaims "PORCUPINE!" and grabs the paper to fill in the pending word.

That's Byomkesh triumphantly writing in PORCUPINE:

Here comes another twist.

Between the two scenes above, the illustrated puzzle that accompanies the jumbled words has been brutally scratched out with a black pen by hands unknown.

What was the motive of this seemingly purposeless act of violence?

I set out to do some detective work of my own.

The Final Piece

That crossed-out image, as Jumble solvers would know, is the final piece of the puzzle: the circled letters from the four words are anagrammed once again to answer the clue in the image.

The clue in the image (as you can see in the "Before" screenshots) is:
When it came to protecting their castle they were "????-??????"

Its solution expects 4+6 = 10 letters. The quote marks around the blanks suggest a pun.

The contributing letters from the first three words in the puzzle:
AM from ALBUM
DT from DIGIT
OTA from BOTANY

AM+DT+OTA totals 7 letters, which means 3 more letters are to be had from the fourth word to make ????-??????, *not* 4 as the encircled letters in PORCUPINE suggest.

Rearranging the contributing letters AMDTOTA??? to correspond to ????-?????? in the image clue gives us a fair idea of what the overall answer could be.

That answer would fall into place only if the circled letters in the last word were IVE. PRPE of PORCUPINE does not fit the bill.

Detective work conclusion: The film makers couldn't make the fake PORCUPINE fit the final puzzle - so they crossed out the final puzzle to bury the evidence!

Endgame

What WAS the real word hiding behind the fake PORCUPINE? I invite you to find the answer.

Related Posts:

• Hot Fuzz: Crossword Conversation
• A Puzzling Difference Between Crossword Solvers and Non-Solvers
• Cryptic Crosswords a Threat to Criminal Justice?
• Unlikely Movie Characters as Potential Crossword Setters

If you wish to keep track of further articles on Crossword Unclued, you can subscribe to it in a reader via RSS Feed. You can also subscribe by email and have articles delivered to your inbox, or follow me on twitter to get notified of new links.

Crossword Software To Make Puzzles With Multiple Letters Per Cell

In the article Crossword Grids That Hold More Than One Letter Per Cell, cryptic setter eXternal (Steve Bartlett) gave us a detailed tour of “rebus” crosswords, with tips for setting and solving such puzzles. In this article, he walks us through software that can be used to create crosswords with the many-letters-per-square gimmick. Steve is the editor of Enigmatic Variations crossword in The Telegraph. He also sets advanced puzzles in the series of The Listener and Inquisitor, and standard cryptic puzzles for The Daily Telegraph (as proXimal), The Independent (as eXternal), Financial Times (as ARTEXLEN), The Herald (as Boz) and The National (as Claymore). Handing over the reins to Steve for this article…thank you! - Shuchi

It is quite simple to create a puzzle with more than one character per cell by using crossword-creating software. I will describe how to do this using Qxw, which can be downloaded for free from Quinapalus. I use this tool for all my barred puzzles and thoroughly recommend it, as it enables the setter to produce complex puzzles relatively easily.

I'll demonstrate how to use Qxw to produce puzzles with multiple letters per cell with reference to a couple of puzzles I created: one called Odd One Out in collaboration with Serpent for The Inquisitor series in The i; and one called Disappearances, which appeared in the Enigmatic Variations series in The Sunday Telegraph in 2017.

Odd One Out by eXtent

Serpent and I decided to theme a barred puzzle on Brexit. We wanted a grid which would include IVR codes of members of the EU in single cells. The number of letters in IVR codes for these members ranges between 1 and 3 — for example, Portugal is P, Czech Republic is CZ and Ireland is IRL.

Below is an outline of the grid we prepared:

In order to get the three letters IRL in one cell, we needed to do the following:

Click on Edit — Cell contents. Then just enter IRL in the dialog box.

Qxw then suggests a number of feasible entries (show in the panel on the right) for insertion.

We simply repeated this procedure for other cells around the grid for each of the two- and three-letter IVR codes. The final grid appeared as follows:

A blog of the puzzle by HolyGhost at Fifteensquared can be found using this link: Inquisitor 1588: Odd One Out by eXtent.

Disappearances by proXimal

I had decided to base a puzzle on a theme of the decline or disappearance of stores from High Streets. The phrase THE HIGH STREET lends itself really well to being used in a barred crossword, as it has 13 letters and such grids are often 12x12 or 13x13. I decided to have THE HIGH STREET as a thematic unclued entry running down the central column of a 13x13, with names of shops which have disappeared produced by clashes on both sides of THE HIGH STREET. The clashes could be nicely thematically represented just by leaving the clashing cell blank, thus the stores are disappearing.

So, I started with a grid as follows:

I decided to have five shops either side of THE HIGH STREET to produce a nice range and an interesting challenge for the solver. Firstly, I searched for shops which would lend themselves easily to being divided, to be produced from clashing words using Across and Down entries, but also ones that were relatively well-known. One of the most famous which I decided to use is WOOLWORTHS, which could be split as WOOL and WORTHS.

There is a useful pattern-matching tool on the internet called Qat, designed by Quinapalus, who also developed Qxw; I used Qat to check which words could end in WORTHS and which could start with WOOL. The picture below shows the search for words ending in WORTHS (using search term *worths):

I liked the look of JOBSWORTHS and decided to have this entry in the grid to provide a clash in the last cell of a five-cell entry; the number of words starting with WOOL, to provide the Across clash, was much higher.

Back to Qxw, I put JOBS in the entry at 27 Down with the last cell blank to accommodate WORTHS in one cell. To enable Qxw to work with clashing entries, one does the following:

1. Select the cell which you want to use (shown in yellow below), by clicking Select and then Current cell, when the cursor is in the cell.

2. Click on Properties — Selected cell properties. Then tick the box which says Override default cell properties and further down, change 'Lights intersecting here' to 'need not agree'.

This now meant that I could specify an entry beginning with WOOL at 40 Across, with the four letters of WOOL being accommodated in the first cell, to clash with WORTHS provided by the down entry. In order to do this, the following is required:

Click on Edit — Cell contents. Because I have previously specified that the cell can accommodate clashes, a box appears which allows us to enter multiple letters for the Across and Down entries meeting in this cell.

Hence, once I had specified that the contents of the cell for the Across entry should be WOOL, Qxw provides me with a number of feasible entries: WOOLDINGS, WOOLFELLS, WOOLIEST, WOOLPACKS, WOOLSHEDS, WOOLWORTH.

I then repeated the same process in various cells around the grid to accommodate the nine other shops. The completed grid appeared as follows:

So, for example, SKEETER at 1 Down clashes with COMPASS at 16 Across to create COMET. In this puzzle I also wanted to have real words left when the clashing cells were deleted, so the deletion of the COMET clash would leave words SKEER and PASS in the final grid.

A blog of the puzzle by Dave Hennings at Fifteensquared can be found using this link: Enigmatic Variations No. 1296: Disappearances by proXimal.

Related Posts:

• Crossword Grids That Hold More Than One Letter Per Cell ~ Steve Bartlett (eXternal)
• Useful Tools For Crossword Setters ~ Dean Mayer (Anax)
• Alphabet Jigsaw Puzzles ~ Bhavan (Buzzer)
• Make Your Own Crossword Grid ~ Chaturvasi (Rishi)

If you wish to keep track of further articles on Crossword Unclued, you can subscribe to it in a reader via RSS Feed. You can also subscribe by email and have articles delivered to your inbox, or follow me on twitter to get notified of new links.

Prize Puzzle: Hindi Crossword 6 – Solution and Winner

We are back as promised to share the solution of Hindi Cryptic Crossword 6 and announce our winner. One of the many delights for us, while reading your responses, has been hearing from first-time solvers. Do dig into our archives and try the older Hindi puzzles too - and we hope to bring more such in future!

आर-पार

क्रमांक	संकेत	उत्तर	टिप्पणी
1	आवाज़ लगाई: "पुल के सामने वाले भाग पर अँग्रेज़ की गाड़ी है ! आ !" (3)	पुकारा	पु (First letter of पुल) + कार (अँग्रेज़ की गाड़ी) + आ; Definition: आवाज़ लगाई
3	फिर ऊपर से (2)	और	DD; Definition1: फिर, Definition2: ऊपर से
4	पहुँच गए ? साये से सिर गायब है (2)	आये	Delete the "head" of साये to get आये; Definition: पहुँच गए
5	एक के पास 3 अंडे हैं | और 997 मिलने के बाद कितने हुए ? (3)	हज़ार	DD-ish; 1 + three 0s, or 3 + 997 = 1000
6	डमरू-दोलन का फल ? (4)	अमरूद	Hidden in डमरू-दोलन ; Definition: फल
8	आभास ने लौटते हुए एक समारोह देखा (2)	सभा	Hidden in (आभास)<; Definition: समारोह
10	सात पुश्तों से संयम-बद्ध संत-मुनि ये करें ? (2)	तप	Hidden in सात पुश्तों; Definition: संत-मुनि ये करें
11	अम्मी, ठाकुर के पास कुछ स्वाद है (2)	मीठा	Hidden in अम्मी ठाकुर; Definition: स्वाद
14	काश! आ जाता पहले तो तुझे मिल पाता गगन (3)	आकाश	आ before (जाता पहले) काश; Definition: गगन
16	साहिबा तसनीम की गुफ़्तगू (2)	रात	Hidden in साहिबा तसनीम; Definition: गुफ़्तगू
17	कटनी (मध्य प्रदेश) में उगने वाला पेड़ (2)	नीम	Hidden in कटनी मध्य; Definition: पेड़
19	शरीर का भाग जिसका पहला हिस्सा कम है और उसके बाद थोड़ा रमणीय है (3)	कमर	कम + र (थोड़ा रमणीय); Definition: शरीर का भाग
21	दक्षिण भारतीय व्यंजन बनाने की विधि (3)	रहम	DD; Definition1: दक्षिण भारतीय व्यंजन, Definition2: विधि
22	ईद से पहले रस लो और यह दस्तावेज़ पाओ (3)	रसीद	रस + ईद; Definition: दस्तावेज़
24	अनलकुण्ड में भी पानी का साधन है (2)	नल	Hidden in अनलकुण्ड; Definition: पानी का साधन
26	नमो-राहुल की गुटबंदी ने क़ैद कर रखी है ये चिड़िया (2)	मोर	Hidden in 'नमो-राहुल; Definition: चिड़िया
27	गरजता है अंदर से कि स्वर्ण से नीचे वाला पदक मिला (3)	रजत	Hidden in गरजता; Definition: स्वर्ण से नीचे वाला पदक
29	बौद्ध सन्यासी होता है बिना माल के ही मालामाल (2)	लामा	Delete the letters of माल from मालामाल; Definition: बौद्ध सन्यासी
31	वहाँ निवास किया जाए जहाँ का भेदी लंका ढाए (2)	घर	DD; Definition1: वहाँ निवास किया जाए, Definition2: Reference to the proverb घर का भेदी लंका ढाए
33	दीन जब वापस आये, तो जल का प्रवाह पाए (2)	नदी	Reversal (वापस आये) of दीन; Definition: जल का प्रवाह
35	हौसला लो, बम न फटेगा (4)	मनोबल	Anagram (फटेगा) of (लो बम न); Definition: हौसला
36	कह ले किसी भी तरह, पर धीरे से (3)	हलके	Anagram (किसी भी तरह) of (कह ले); Definition: धीरे से
38	शुरू में चाय लेकर पैदल निकले (2)	चले	First letters (शुरू में) of चाय लेकर; Definition: पैदल निकले
39	आप और मैं मिल कर 32 का हिस्सा प्राप्त करेंगे (2)	हम	Part of solution to 32 Dn रहम; Definition: आप और मैं
40	आपने बिना तकल्लुफ़ के तुरंत मनमौजी नेवलों के सरों को पकड़ा (3)	तुमने	First letters (सरों) of तुरंत मनमौजी नेवलों; Definition: आपने बिना तकल्लुफ़ के i.e. the informal version of the second person pronoun

नीचे की ओर

क्रमांक	संकेत	उत्तर	टिप्पणी
1	इस पुल के टूटने पर प्रकट हुए नगर-रक्षक! (3)	पुलिस	Anagram (टूटने पर) of इस पुल; Definition: नगर-रक्षक
2	राहुल का रास्ता (2)	राह	Hidden in राहुल; Definition:रास्ता
3	मोहतरमा और तहज़ीब की शुरुआत ? (3)	औरत	और + first letter of तहज़ीब; Definition: मोहतरमा
4	जल्लाद मीर की अंदरूनी शख्सियत (3)	आदमी	Hidden in जल्लाद मीर; Definition: शख्सियत
7	घड़ा जो मुंबई में जुए के लिए मशहूर है (3)	मटका	DD; Definition1: घड़ा, Definition2: जो मुंबई में जुए के लिए मशहूर है
9	हिंदुस्तानी सात वार भी करे धुआँधार (5)	भारतवासी	Anagram (करे धुआँधार) of सात वार भी; Definition: हिंदुस्तानी
12	राष्ट्रकवि जमींदार भी हो सकता है (3)	ठाकुर	DD; Definition1: राष्ट्रकवि Rabindranath Tagore; Definition2: जमींदार भी हो सकता है
13	बहुरानी के पास एक ऊँचे दर्जे का पत्ता है (2)	रानी	Hidden in बहुरानी; Definition: एक ऊँचे दर्जे का पत्ता in the deck of cards
14	आग पहले से लगी है, मन में आ जाना (4)	आगमन	आग before मन; Definition: आ जाना
15	शंका है तो शौक की मात्रा कम कर दो (2)	शक	Remove the मात्रा from शौक; Definition: शंका
18	गुज़र मत हकलाते हुए ! ऐसा करने से बिगड़ी हुई चीज़े ठीक हो सकती है (4)	मरम्मत	मर (गुज़र) + मत हकलाते हुए = मरम्मत; Definition: ऐसा करने से बिगड़ी हुई चीज़े ठीक हो सकती है
20	श्री कृष्ण जैसे दिल लुभानेवाले पूर्व प्रधान मंत्री (5)	मनमोहन	Triple Defn; Definition1: श्री कृष्ण; Definition2: दिल लुभानेवाले, Definition3: पूर्व प्रधान मंत्री
22	बनारसी लालची के पास बहुत अर्क है (3)	रसीला	Hidden in बनारसी लालची; Definition:बहुत अर्क है
23	बिरादरी की कीमत (2)	दर	Hidden in बिरादरी; Definition:कीमत
25	उलटी ताल में ये फ़नकारा बखूबी गायें? (2)	लता	Reversal (उलटी) of ताल; Definition: ये फ़नकारा बखूबी गायें (Lata Mangeshkar)
28	श्रीमान, उर्दू में बोलिए (3)	जनाब	CD; the Urdu word for श्रीमान
30	इंज़माम ले गया विकेट ! अब ढूँढो चर्चे के लिएअलग-अलग विषय (3)	मामले	Hidden in इंज़माम ले ; Definition: चर्चे के लिएअलग-अलग विषय
32	बारह महीने का क्या भेद है, इसका मतलब समझे दया ! (3)	रहम	Hidden in बारह महीने; Definition: दया (Am I the only one here that knows CID’s equivalent of elementary-my-dear-Watson?)
34	नदी के किनारे नाव को उल्टा कर दो, ए पागल (3)	दीवाने	दी + वान (reversal of नाव) + ए; Definition: पागल
37	उसके-तुम्हारे बीच में छुपा है राहु का साथी (2)	केतु	Hidden in उसके-तुम्हारे; Definition: राहु का साथी

Solution Evaluation Notes

To break the tie, we usually go for wordplay parsing accuracy as the first filter. This time, parsing deviations/errors were so minor that we didn’t drop any entry at this step. Also, where the solver’s annotation was not quite what we intended, it was well-considered/intriguing and could work if we let it :-)

A few notable annos that we enjoyed reading: 3a - the observation that women are considered more civilized, so they can be called तहज़ीब की शुरुआत (with the ? to address any counters to this assertion); 3d - ऊपर से could indicate “taking the top off” of the word just above it (3a).

The parsing of 18d tripped up many solvers, and we can see why in retrospect. It uses a not-too-common device – the stuttering clue – for a complex consonant in an unchecked cell. If the stuttering was not mentioned in the solver’s parsing but the rest of it was fine, we took it as OK.

For 20d, we accepted both double definition and triple definition in the annotation.

14d, 25d received special commendation for their surfaces – glad you enjoyed those clues!

Applause for…

…those of you who cracked the puzzle fully.

Anshu N Jain	Harshit Gupta
Raju Umamaheshwar	Lakshmi Vaidyanathan
Vidyadhar Gadgil	Bharat
Vinayak Rao Ekbote	Rengaswamy
Ramki Krishnan	Vasant Srinivasan
Usha Mehta	Mahalingam
Amita Joseph	Prabhanjan
Supriya Mithal	Soumya V
Arvind Ramaswamy	Neelima Rai

18 eligible names went in for a lucky draw, the result of which is below. But before that...

Did you spot the Nina?

In keeping with Nina tradition, we did not call out its presence when we posted the puzzle. The lack of flagging, plus this Nina's non-linear arrangement in the grid, meant that it was easy to miss. And yet, two of our brilliant solvers spotted it – bravo Lakshmi Vaidyanathan and Arvind Ramaswamy!

तुमने पुकारा और हम चले आये – you called and we came. This song by Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur, from the movie Rajkumar, is a special favourite of our setter Kishore’s. [Hearing his lively talk about this song has convinced me he can write a dissertation on Rafi’s tremolo in the penultimate line of the first antara alone.]

The lucky draw to pick the winner is set to the musical prelude of the song - you can watch the draw in the video below. [Email subscribers: You may have to go to the blog for the video.]

Hindi Cryptic Crossword 6: Picking the Prize Winner

Well done Vasant Srinivasan, hearty congratulations! An Amazon gift voucher of INR 1000 will be on its way to you soon.

Congratulations too to all the other 17 solvers who completed the crossword, and a big thank you to everyone who attempted it. Hope you had fun!

Related Posts:

• Hindi crosswords on Crossword Unclued: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
• Contest: Participate and Win Afrit's Book
• Konkani Crossword

If you wish to keep track of further articles on Crossword Unclued, you can subscribe to it in a reader via RSS Feed. You can also subscribe by email and have articles delivered to your inbox, or follow me on twitter to get notified of new links.

Prize Puzzle: Hindi Crossword 6

We’ve had a mad scramble to get our latest Hindi crossword puzzle out just in time for Holi. Happy Holi dear readers! Kishore (aka Incognito) and I present our sixth collaboration over Hindi cryptics [previous Hindi puzzles here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. This has been months in the making - we have had our debates about what is obscure and what is common knowledge, what needs ि and what needs ी, how to enumerate consonant conjuncts (more on this later) – and we have learned a thing or two in the process.

The finished puzzle now stands before you. Hope you have fun with it!

आर-पार 1  आवाज़ लगाई: "पुल के सामने वाले भाग पर अँग्रेज़ की गाड़ी है ! आ !" (3) 3  फिर ऊपर से (2) 4  पहुँच गए ? साये से सिर गायब है (2) 5  एक के पास 3 अंडे हैं | और 997 मिलने के बाद कितने हुए ? (3) 6   डमरू-दोलन का फल ? (4) 8  आभास ने लौटते हुए एक समारोह देखा (2) 10  सात पुश्तों से संयम-बद्ध संत-मुनि ये करें ? (2) 11  अम्मी, ठाकुर के पास कुछ स्वाद है (2) 14  काश! आ जाता पहले तो तुझे मिल पाता गगन (3) 16  साहिबा तसनीम की गुफ़्तगू (2) 17  कटनी (मध्य प्रदेश) में उगने वाला पेड़ (2) 19  शरीर का भाग जिसका पहला हिस्सा कम है और उसके बाद थोड़ा रमणीय है (3) 21  दक्षिण भारतीय व्यंजन बनाने की विधि (3) 22  ईद से पहले रस लो और यह दस्तावेज़ पाओ (3) 24  अनलकुण्ड में भी पानी का साधन है (2) 26  नमो-राहुल की गुटबंदी ने क़ैद कर रखी है ये चिड़िया  (2) 27  गरजता है अंदर से कि स्वर्ण से नीचे वाला पदक मिला (3) 29  बौद्ध सन्यासी होता है बिना माल के ही मालामाल (2) 31  वहाँ निवास किया जाए जहाँ का भेदी लंका ढाए (2) 33  दीन जब वापस आये, तो जल का प्रवाह पाए  (2) 35  हौसला लो, बम न फटेगा (4) 36  कह ले किसी भी तरह, पर धीरे से (3) 38  शुरू में चाय लेकर पैदल निकले (2) 39  आप और मैं मिल कर 32 का हिस्सा प्राप्त करेंगे (2) 40  आपने बिना तकल्लुफ़ के तुरंत मनमौजी नेवलों के सरों को पकड़ा (3) PDF format available here.

नीचे की ओर 1  इस पुल के टूटने पर प्रकट हुए नगर-रक्षक! (3) 2  राहुल का रास्ता (2) 3  मोहतरमा और तहज़ीब की शुरुआत ? (3) 4  जल्लाद मीर की अंदरूनी शख्सियत (3) 7  घड़ा जो मुंबई में जुए के लिए मशहूर है (3) 9  हिंदुस्तानी सात वार भी करे धुआँधार (5) 12  राष्ट्रकवि जमींदार भी हो सकता है (3) 13  बहुरानी के पास एक ऊँचे दर्जे का पत्ता है (2) 14  आग पहले से लगी है, मन में आ जाना (4) 15  शंका है तो शौक की मात्रा कम कर दो (2) 18  गुज़र मत हकलाते हुए ! ऐसा करने से बिगड़ी हुई चीज़े ठीक हो सकती है (4) 20  श्री कृष्ण जैसे दिल लुभानेवाले पूर्व प्रधान मंत्री (5) 22  बनारसी लालची के पास बहुत अर्क है (3) 23  बिरादरी की कीमत (2) 25  उलटी ताल में ये फ़नकारा बखूबी गायें? (2) 28  श्रीमान, उर्दू में बोलिए (3) 30   इंज़माम ले गया विकेट ! अब ढूँढो चर्चे के लिएअलग-अलग विषय (3) 32  बारह महीने का क्या भेद है, इसका मतलब समझे दया ! (3) 34  नदी के किनारे नाव को उल्टा कर दो, ए पागल (3) 37  उसके-तुम्हारे बीच में छुपा है राहु का साथी (2)

Notes On The Crossword

1. Word lengths are in syllables e.g. each of the words पहला, प्रथम, प्रदान, प्रस्थान will be enumerated as (3).
2. Complex consonants go into a single cell e.g. वर्ग will be split into two cells, the first with व, the second with र्ग. Similarly, प्रस्थान will be split into three cells, the first with प्र, the second with स्था, the third with न.
3. In wordplay, the matras may be treated independently of the letters e.g. राम when anagrammed can give मार or मरा.

Solving and Submission Instructions

1. Send in your completed entries to shuchi [at] crosswordunclued [dot] com, with the subject line "Hindi Cryptic Crossword 6 – Solution", latest by Friday 29th March 2019.
2. Entries should be legible and readable in a standard text or image reader (Word, Excel, PNG, etc. all fine). You can hand-write the answers with annotations, and send a scan if that works for you.
3. Solution words should be in Devanagari script. [Services like Google Input Tools can be used for typing in Hindi.]
4. Entries should contain annotations for the answers. Any annotation format is all right – words or symbols, Hindi or English – as long as how you arrived at the answer is clear. A couple of sample annotations for Hindi Puzzle#4 that work:
   

If you have questions related to solution submission, please post them in the comments section.

The Prize

The winner can choose gift vouchers on Amazon IN/US/UK, worth INR 1000 (or equivalent in USD/GBP).

The solver with the maximum correct answers, correctly annotated, will win. In case of ties, the winner will be picked by a lucky draw.

The solution to the crossword and the winner's name will be announced in a follow-up post after 29th March 2019. [Update: Hindi Crossword 6 – Solution and Winner]

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Edited: 4a for wordplay, 5a for spelling. Thanks @p1j, @hg6.
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Related Posts:

• How do you spell Ximenean in Hindi?
• Setting a Hindi Crossword: Lessons Learnt and Recommendations
• A crossword in Bahasa Indonesia

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