Thursday 18 February 2010

Blog for Hindustan Times Crossword, Anyone?

Hindustan Times crossword blog: Let's have it! Since December 2009, Hindustan Times (HT) has been carrying the syndicated Times UK cryptic crossword of eight years ago. There have been a couple of queries from solvers, about whether a dedicated blog exists to tackle the HT puzzle daily.

So far I don't think there is one. I'm writing this post so that, if you're a keen solver but don't have the bandwidth to set up and run a daily blog single-handed, you could express your interest here and maybe a group could get together and start something. The current Times UK crossword is solved on a group blog Times for the Times where solvers take turns to write, and the model seems to work well. Or, there could be a forum like the THC Hub or the Orkut THC community, where each participant enters a small fixed quota of answers each day to finish the puzzle.

I might not be able to participate as a blogger, my hands are already full, but I'll gladly set up a blog for you if needed.

The Hindustan Times crossword is an extremely good one, and I hope that solvers in India make the most of its availability. [Times UK crossword is, otherwise, not available for free.]

Leave a comment on this post if you have further ideas on this or if you can contribute to a solving blog/forum. You could also mail in your views to me at email.

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14 comments

SandhyaP said...

I think a forum like THC Solutions or Crosswordmania on Orkut would be a good idea.

Shuchi said...

Hi Sandhya

Thanks for your input. I'm creating a group mailid for 5-6 of us who have shown interest in the HT crossword, to discuss the finer details of the mode to follow. Will include you too in the list if you wish. Can you send me your email id?

maddy said...

Just a word of caution...The HT epaper carries different xwd for diff editions.Today's Mumbai edition (both online &hard copy)has #21760 and the Delhi edition #21761.

Shuchi said...

Thanks, maddy. Do you know if the Delhi edition is always one ahead of Mumbai, or do they keep mixing it up arbitrarily?

maddy said...

@Shuchi - I first noticed this discrepency about 4-5 days back. Since then at least, the Delhi edition has been one ahead of Mumbai.

Don't give this much publicity, lest it be construed as a conspiracy theory by the self appointed moral and pride guardians. As it is, they must be in desperate need of a new issue to rake up after the recent set backs :)

Shuchi said...

@maddy: LOL. There must not be many crossword fans in their ranks, else this clue entered by someone on the last Times CWC would not have gone unnoticed:

What Indian city is left at after crowd backs off (3)

Unknown said...

Not exactly a luddite but still unable to figure out how to fix this. When I print the grid and the clues from the epaper, the characters (particulary in the answers' grid) are fuzzy. Is there a solution to this? Thanks in anticipation. Chandrasekhar.

Unknown said...

Would be interested in joining a group for the HT Crosswords. Thanks. R Chandrasekhar. My email id: oneacross@gmail.com

Shuchi said...

@Chandra: The last day's solutions are fuzzy for us, too. No solution so far, will keep you posted if we find some workaround.

@RC: I'll put your id in our mail group. Right now we are a few of us discussing the solutions over mail each evening. A public forum is planned soon.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the response. Was wondering if it would help to write to the paper's editor. Chandrasekhar.

Shuchi said...

Hi RC,

From past experience of writing to paper editors, I'm not optimistic but we don't lose anything by trying. Please write to them if you have their contact.

Thankfully, Lakshmi and Mohan have all the answers everyday so we never need to check the illegible little solution grid.

Unknown said...

Hi Shuchi. Yes, if the answers are posted regularly, it wouldn't matter if the epaper characters appear fuzzy. Can I request you to post annotations if you get the time? If it is too taxing to post all of them, at least the ones that take your fancy or the ones that would help newbies? Please ignore this if it is too much of a bother. Thanks. Chandrasekhar.

Shuchi said...

Hi RC, I'm sure that the group setting up the forum plan to post annotations too. You can write directly to the mail group for any suggestions. I'll definitely chip in if there's anything pending that I can help with.

Unknown said...

Would be interested in being part of this group. Still as rookie though