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Crossword puzzle queen Sowmya Ramkumar and fellow cruciverbalists have published a book featuring a series of brainteasers with the aim of raising funds for cancer research.
Cryptic Crossroads was released today priced around BD5 through online retail giants such as Amazon and Flipkart and eBook channels including Educreation and Kindle.
The book features 23 cryptic puzzles set by 31 setters from the US, UK, Singapore, India and the Middle East who are all part of Sowmya’s popular Facebook group 1ACross. The group was founded by Sowmya in 2014 and has attracted 250 devotees from around the globe.
Sowmya, a financial consultant who lives in Saar, with her husband, Ramkumar a banking executive, and their son Adhvik, six, said: “Cancer - that ugly ‘C’ word, often drives people to a crossroads in their lives and we wanted our venture to reach out to people who are in that situation.
“Earlier this year, my husband’s sister, Chandra Murthy, passed away after a valiant struggle with the disease. Although we are still grappling with the loss, it motivated us to do something specifically for supporting cancer research as well as helping people who struggle to afford the treatment.”
During the time Chandra was undergoing treatment, the family became aware of the Adyar Cancer Research Institute in Chennai, India, and its efforts in making treatment affordable for poorer patients.
Friends including K. Alraee, Farzana Ameen and Uma Raghavan, and other well-wishers, readily backed the puzzle book fund-raising suggestion with sponsorship, even before the book was finalised.
“This gave us a lot of confidence,” explained Sowmya. “Most of the people that agreed to support this cause and set the puzzles have never met in real life, but are all united by a common interest in words and language.”
Cryptic crosswords are puzzles that originated in the UK more than a 100-years-ago. According to Sowmya, they are still often referred to as British-style crosswords and have a dedicated following in the UK, India, Canada, South Africa, Australia and several other countries. Each country also brings its own flavour to the clues.
She said: “Each clue is meticulously crafted and many are laced with humour and the satisfaction of solving even a part of the crossword is quite unparalleled, and sends the solvers on endorphin laden ego trips!”
Cryptic Crossroads boasts a unique collection, including ‘easy’ puzzles as well as those that have hidden messages. There are also puzzles with various themes including those associated with the books and film Harry Potter series and the hit TV show Game of Thrones, puzzles with unusual shapes like a three-leaf clover, puzzles where answers have to be assembled together like a jigsaw and whose clues are couplets that need to be deciphered.
The background of the people who have set them are also eclectic. Two puzzles have been set by septuagenarians living in two different continents who have decades of experience in setting crosswords for renowned international publications.
One of the puzzle setters is a bureaucrat - a former chief secretary of an Indian state, who is also an international scrabble champion. A puzzle has also been set by an American author who dabbles in fantasy fiction and who has just released a new book. A husband and wife duo has also set a challenging puzzle and the husband is a chief copy writer of a series of advertisements which are widely appreciated in the sub-continent for their topicality and humour.
“There is a puzzle set by a retired educator from Hawaii, who can also dance the Hula. Suffice it to say that each setter who has set for this collection is much accomplished in many ways,” added Sowmya.
Although the Cryptic Crossroads venture is the first of its kind for the group, they did release a souvenir collection of puzzles back in 2015 to mark their milestone for crossing one year.
Sowmya said: “After our second year and second souvenir, which was also received extremely well, we were ready to introduce our exclusive puzzles to a wider audience!”
Sowmya, the former vice president and division head in Gulf International Bank, Bahrain, has been interested in crosswords since childhood. She believes it helped keep her brain active, build up her vocabulary as well as assist with problem solving skills which were useful in management roles.
Over the years she has set more than 120 cryptic crosswords for The Hindu Business Line, an Indian publication and also holds a Guinness World Record for making the longest crochet blanket, as a member of Mother India’s Crochet Queens.
She hopes Cryptic Crossroads will also inspire youngsters to take up the hobby. She said: “I feel children these days spend far too much time on electronic devices, while neglecting amazing hobbies such as these which can provide an all-round work out to both sides of the brain.
“I would certainly be happy to help the current generation understand and appreciate cryptic crosswords and if they can do so after seeing our book and enjoying the puzzles in it, that would be a big bonus.
“Also, borrowing from Brian Dungate, the UK-based setter, who has penned our book’s foreword and also set for this collection: “While you will certainly enjoy these puzzles, when you buy this book, what there is no doubt about whatsoever, is that, your purchase will have helped others.”
It is hoped that copies of Cryptic Crossroads will also be available in book stores in Bahrain.
For details on how to snap up this book, visit https://www.educreation.in/store/cryptic-crossroads-crosswords-from-1across-org-sowmya-ramkumar.html
Also, to join the group, visit https://www.1across.org/. It is open to people who are professional setters of cryptic crossword puzzles for publications across the globe, budding setters as well as expert solvers.
Sowmya said: “Since we have many professional setters in the group, the focus is on quality of clues.
“Word games are played daily within the group with an emphasis on adhering to the rules of crosswords while having fun and banter with one another. The group brings the magic of social interaction to an otherwise solitary pastime.
“We have members who are in high school or college, as well as some who are aged in their seventies and eighties. We have homemakers as well as tech-savvy, super busy chief executive officers who take their breathers over cryptic clues. Being a brain game, age is not a limiting factor. Our membership base is global and transcends narrow confines of region or religion.”
Check out one of the book’s crosswords in cerebrally crust & crema: Page 17
