Proficient puzzle-solvers Joanne Rodney and Savera Mehra have won the GulfWeekly Year in Review crossword competition.
The crossword grid, created by cruciverbalist Sowmya Ramkumar, took a look at some of the most significant events in Bahrain during the past year. It attracted 115 entries, of whom seven solvers - Joanne, Savera, Gayathri Viswanath, Nick Loader, Rangarajan Raghavan, Priya Sethuraman and Venkatesan Perumal - got all the right answers.
Joanne was the first to solve the crossword, and Savera was picked out of the six others as the lucky all-correct winner.
The two received copies of Sowmya’s new book, Cryptic Crossroads – Volume 3, which is being devoured by puzzlers all over the world.
Cryptic Crossroads – Volume 3 features 26 puzzles, which were initially made for Gridfest, a month-long carnival of cryptic crosswords which took place from August 16 to September 19 last year.
The book has already attracted the eye of stalwarts in the crossword universe including Will Shortz, crossword puzzle editor for The New York Times and the only person known to hold a college degree in enigmatology - the study and design of puzzles.
SOLUTIONS:
Across
2 12’s celebrating this jubilee (6) - GOLDEN
5 12’s healthcare insurance system (6) - SEHATI
7 Peak accomplishment of the Royal Guard? (7) - EVEREST
10 Traffic light based Covid-19 alert system (4-4) - FOURTIER
11 Sport that has put 12 on the Olympics map (8) - HANDBALL
13 Carbon emissions target for 12 by 2060 (3,4) - NETZERO
14 1 got off to a flying start with a new terminal here (7) - AIRPORT
15 12’s satellite is named after this book by His Majesty King Hamad (5,5) - FIRSTLIGHT
Down
1 Hindsight? Plus 1 (6,6,3) - TWENTY TWENTY ONE
3 CBB approved payment system that uses digital signatures (1-6) - ECHEQUE
4 Name of Muharraq souq that was recently revamped (9) - QAYSARIYA
6 Where 12’s five newly announced cities will be located (8) - OFFSHORE
8 -------------- weaves opportunity in 12’s Expo 2020 Pavillion (7) - DENSITY