We ran 26 new puzzles custom made for our solvers, fortnightly, during 2020, three more than 23 which we ran in 2019.
These were set by The Oracle (3), Bingo (3), Eclogue (2), Hasslethymi (2), Sphinx/Avatar (2), Gussalufz (2), Hypatia/Sowmya (2), and 1 each by Mythical, Women of 1AC, Mac, Mathrix, Spiffytrix, Saral, Sideswipe, Asis, The Bangalore Four and Masher.
For the first time, we featured a cryptic crossword that was in Tamil. It was compiled by “Kaariiravu” – “The Hindu”‘s setter “Afterdark”,
Thank you setters for some brilliant grids.
We saw a substantial increase in participation this year with 144 unique solvers participating across the various grids. The total number of submissions received for individual puzzles, ranged from 28 to 75 depending on the level of difficulty. The Grids that got the most views during the year were “IPL 2020” with 1,139 views, the spectacular Women’s Day special grid “NOW ME” which got 994 views and “Mudhal Padi” which got 867 views.
Here’s the Summary of the year’s puzzles
2020
| S.No | Date | Puzzle | LB | Setter | Views | Solvers | Rating | 10s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21. | 6th Dec. | Figuring It Out | LB21 | Bingo | 470 | 36 | 9.2 | 18 |
| 20. | 22nd Nov. | Headline | LB20 | Spiffytrix | 733 | 28 | 8.9 | 12 |
| 19. | 25th Oct. | A French Connection | LB19 | Mathrix | 707 | 55 | 7.9 | 9 |
| 18. | 11th Oct. | Diary of the Dead | LB18 | Bingo | 700 | 41 | 9.2 | 17 |
| 17. | 19th Sep. | IPL 2020 | LB17 | Sowmya | 1,139 | 60 | 8.5 | 17 |
| 16. | 06th Sep. | The Great British Rope Trick | LB16 | The Oracle | 691 | 70 | 8.1 | 17 |
| 15. | 23rd Aug. | Missing Ink | LB15 | Hypatia | 542 | 59 | 9.2 | 30 |
| 14. | 9th Aug. | Turn of Phrase | LB14 | Mythical | 656 | 68 | 8.2 | 12 |
| 13. | 26th Jul. | Solve from Home | LB13 | Sphinx | 618 | 51 | 8.4 | 12 |
| 12. | 12th Jul. | Room at the Top | LB12 | Hasslethymi | 558 | 62 | 8.0 | 11 |
| 11. | 24th May | Instructions | LB11 | Eclogue | 473 | 37 | 8.5 | 12 |
| 10. | 3rd May | Wormholes | LB10 | Gussalufz | 304 | 51 | 8.9 | 19 |
| 9. | 26th Apr. | Liar’s Paradox | LB9 | Mac | 369 | 52 | 8.8 | 16 |
| 8. | 19th Apr. | TLC | LB8 | Bingo | 358 | 40 | 8.8 | 18 |
| 7. | 5th Apr. | Sound Recipe | LB7 | The Oracle | 414 | 75 | 8.5 | 22 |
| 6. | 22nd Mar. | Newsround | LB6 | Hasslethymi | 275 | 62 | 8.2 | 10 |
| 5. | 8th Mar. | NOW ME | LB5 | Women of 1AC | 994 | 69 | 8.5 | 15 |
| 4. | 16th Feb. | Cyclical | LB4 | Eclogue | 341 | 33 | 9.0 | 15 |
| 3. | 2nd Feb. | Bar Bar Dekho | LB3 | Gussalufz | 267 | 49 | 8.9 | 18 |
| 2. | 19th Jan. | The Devil in the Detail | LB2 | Avatar | 396 | 34 | 8.4 | 10 |
| 1. | 5th Jan. | Letters | LB1 | The Oracle | 332 | 57 | 8.4 | 11 |
2020
Not for Competition Grids
Simple & Straightforward – By Masher on 8th November 2020 Solutions Here
Whatever Works – By Sideswipe on 1st March 2020 Solutions Here
Class War – By Saral on 15th March 2020 Solutions Here
It’s Just Not Cricket – By Asis on 12th April 2020 Solutions Here
Tales Be Retold – By Bangalore Four on 31st May 2020 Solutions Here
Other Grids
Mudhal Padi – By Kaariravu on 25th November 2020 Solutions Here
Here’s our “Hall of Fame”
The first spot is jointly shared by Anirudh Sahni and Venkatraghavan Sahasranaman with 3,525 points each.
At #3 position are Lakshmi Prakash, Mona Sogal and Keith Williams with 3,524 points each
The remaining of the Top 10 spots goes to..
Anicha Reuban with 3,516 points, Max Jackson with 3,511 points, Prakash Arumugam with 3,509 points, Bhalchandra Pasupathy with 3,505 points and Narayanan R. with 3,500 points.
Congrats to all of you.
Here’s our leaderboard (Top 50) for 2020 and our Hall of Fame
Hope you enjoyed all our puzzles. Which one was your favorite? Do you have any compliments / brick bats to share with us? Please do write in.