Thursday 5 August 2010

The World's Largest Crossword

Raju Umamaheshwar is the proud owner of a gigantic 7 ft X 7 ft crossword. This crossword has more than 91000 squares and over 28000 clues that come in a separate book of 103 pages. Check out these pictures of the grid and the cover of the clue book.

worlds-largest-crossword-grid

worlds-largest-crossword-clues

worlds-largest-crossword-puzzle

I don't have a verifiable source to confirm that this is the largest in the world but this is certainly the largest in my knowledge. Know of any bigger than this?

The perfect wall hanging for a crossword buff's living room, isn't it?

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9 comments

Karen said...

Mindboggling!!!

Col_Gopinath said...

Just checked on the net, it appears that it is the largest and is a Guinness record holder. It is available for $ 29.95 at http://www.hammacher.com/Product/Default.aspx?sku=76004&refsku=66813

Shuchi said...

Thanks for looking that up, Colonel.

The description on that link and the crossword owned by Raju is near-identical - 7' by 7' and over 91000 squares - but Raju's crossword says it has more than 28000 clues. I wonder if it's the same crossword, or if the creators of this crossword can contest that Guinness record.

raju umamaheshwar said...

There are two different crosswords which claim to be the world's largest. I own both. One is a non-cryptic posted here, published circa 2000 and the other is a cryptic one, published in 1976.

The other equally large crossword used to adorn the wall in my Nairobi House. It was open-framed and though it survived the vagaries of weather and a full sea-journey is now a bit weather-beaten.

Shuchi said...

Hi raju

Is one of your two crosswords the same as the Hammacher crossword Col Gopinath has linked to, or does that make it a third contestant for the Largest Crossword title?

raju umamaheswar said...

I do not quite know, Schuchi. These get published every now and then and are sold in the US markets. I know one thing for sure: Crossowrds are not featured in the Guinness Book of Records and my attempts twice from 2006 till date are frustrated by their convoluted process as everything is done thru' their web site and and they say that they have no comparable standards etc. They have a fast tracking route, which one pays for; or else, they expect one of their apprisers to visit the claimant for which all expenses, rather prohibitive, have to be met.

As of now, I have not come across any more cryptic crosswords of the largest kind, except what I got in 1976, and those publishers are no longer available. So there.

Raju Umamaheswar

Shuchi said...

Crossowrds are not featured in the Guinness Book of Records

But they are! Roger Squires holds the Guinness record for being the world's most prolific crossword setter. Here is a picture - Roger Squires with Guinness certificate.

raju umamaheswar said...

Thanks,Schuchi. At least, now they have revived.!! At one time,there was this entry for the most prolific compiler and now it has been reinstated with this entry of 2007. I somehow did not get to see this in 2007. must have overlooked.

We can take courage in the fact that crosswords now get a deserved place in the World Records Book.

We can all try to compete to find our place in history. Right?

Raju Umamaheswar

plutoman said...

After seeing that I feel quite inferior!

I guess there should be two separate records here. One for the biggest in terms of area, another for the most squares/clues.