We ran 21 new puzzles custom made for our solvers, fortnightly, during 2023, 1 less than 22 in 2022.
Three puzzles each were set by Aquifer, Bingo and Mathrix, two by Saral and one each from Ambrosia, Avtaar, Eclogue, Hypatia, Inswinger, Scratch, Sideswipe, Smasher and Veeyares. In addition, one special grid was put together as a Community grid for Women’s day – a massive effort co-ordinated by Qrypt on YX.
Thanks to our setters for some truly entertaining grids and hours of puzzling fun.
The puzzle and solution pages had over 15,300 views while the total number of submissions received for individual puzzles, ranged from 32 to 53 depending on the level of difficulty.
The Grid that got the most views during the year was “Pincer Movement” by Sideswipe with 985 views.
The Grid that had the most solves, contrary to the title, was “Catch some Zzzs” by Saral and the one with the least solves inspite of offering something free was “Free Bird” by Bingo.
All puzzles were rated well and four puzzles were rated 9.0 or higher.
Here’s the Summary of the year’s puzzles
| S.No | Date | Puzzle | LB | Setter | Views | Solvers | Rating | 10s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21. | 3rd Dec. | Sweetie Pie | LB21 | Bingo | 738 | 33 | 9.2 | 14 |
| 20. | 26th Nov. | Bigger Screen | LB20 | Aquifer | 709 | 42 | 8.1 | 9 |
| 19. | 10th Nov. | Safe Cracker | LB19 | Hypatia | 693 | 43 | 9.2 | 17 |
| 18. | 27th Oct. | The Tramp | LB18 | Veeyares | 662 | 35 | 8.3 | 5 |
| 17. | 6th Oct. | Double Spaced | LB17 | Mathrix | 594 | 39 | 8.5 | 8 |
| 16. | 22nd Sept. | Illusory Spirit | LB16 | Avatar | 758 | 43 | 9.0 | 11 |
| 15. | 8th Sept. | Second Chance | LB15 | Scratch | 920 | 34 | 8.1 | 7 |
| 14. | 16th July | A to ZED | LB14 | Saral | 567 | 52 | 7.9 | 6 |
| 13. | 25th June | Free Bird | LB13 | Bingo | 995 | 32 | 9.2 | 15 |
| 12. | 18th June | Mili Julie | LB12 | Inswinger | 512 | 45 | 8.3 | 6 |
| 11. | 11th June | Master’s XI | LB11 | Aquifer | 586 | 40 | 8.7 | 12 |
| 10. | 21st May | Area 51 | LB10 | Eclogue | 934 | 40 | 8.4 | 9 |
| 9. | 30th Apr. | That’s A Wrap | LB9 | Mathrix | 755 | 47 | 8.3 | 7 |
| 8. | 16th Apr. | Pincer Movement? | LB8 | Sideswipe | 985 | 38 | 8.6 | 7 |
| 7. | 02nd Apr. | Rich Pickings | LB7 | Smasher | 537 | 35 | 8.3 | 8 |
| 6. | 19th Mar. | Catch some Zzzs | LB6 | Saral | 548 | 53 | 8.0 | 8 |
| 5. | 08th Mar. | The Family Woman | LB5 | Women of 1Across | 981 | 50 | 8.5 | 12 |
| 4. | 19th Feb. | Nitty Gritty | LB4 | Bingo | 841 | 43 | 8.5 | 9 |
| 3. | 05th Feb. | Watch List | LB3 | Aquifer | 589 | 48 | 8.4 | 9 |
| 2. | 22nd Jan. | No Brainer | LB2 | Ambrosia | 620 | 47 | 8.1 | 6 |
| 1. | 8th Jan. | Cut Corners | LB1 | Mathrix | 762 | 50 | 8.1 | 7 |
Here are the WINNERS
The Top spot goes to Samit Kallianpur (who was also #1 in 2022), with 3,361 points,
At #2 is Venkatraghavan S. with 3,360 points.
At #3 is Lakshmi Prakash. with 3,351 points
The remaining Top 10 spots go to..
- Mona Sogal (3,350),
- Tejas Siddharth (3,348),
- Narayanan Rangamani (3,337),
- Ashit Hegde (3,333),
- Venkatesan P. (3,329),
- Ian VanderSchee (3,328) and Ramki Krishnan (3,328)
Congrats to all of you.
Here’s our leaderboard (Top 50) for 2023 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.