Tributes from solvers
| Name | Message |
| Arvind Ramaswamy |
I have met Raj only at IXL Finals in 2022 & 2023. Despite that I felt an instant connection. I know for sure that he was an Amazing person. The news came as a shock and I still can’t believe it. Sending Healing thoughts and prayers for Sharvari, Vivrut & Viraaj.
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| Sreeni (Avtaar) |
Wonderful to have known you for so many years Thanks for solving all my crosswords and giving feedback and advice. Praying to God to give Sharvari, Vivrut and Viraaj the strength to carry on with your memories. Be blessed wherever you are
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| Mona Sogal |
This IXL finals, I sat next to Raj during the prelims…and everytime he got an answer, he would exclaim animatedly and I would enjoy his success vicariously…(especially since I was doing so miserably!) … Raj made me promise him that I would create a Bangalore Cruciverbalist group by end of that day and arrange a meet soon… I did that and we were excited to meet up on the 21st of December….it will continue to hurt that we couldn’t meet as per Raj’s wishes…. I can empathise with you, Sharvari, having lost my beloved partner Subhanu, at exactly the same age (He was just 59) …I wish you and your children strength and equanimity to bear this loss…love and hugs 💕💕 |
| Madhup Tewari |
I never had the good fortune of meeting and interacting with Raj but from the sentiments expressed by fellow cruciverbalists, I can make out that he was immensely popular. He was a gentle soul and very affable. May the noble soul rest in peace. We are all going to miss you Raj.
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| Lakshmi Vaidyanathan |
I met him for the first time at IXL 2023 competition. Couldn’t believe when I heard about the sad news 🙁 Apart from our family members, only few stay in our memory. Raj is one of them. May his soul rest in peace
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| Amrita Majumdar |
I am incredibly saddened to hear about Raj’s passing. He was such an inspiration in the crossword world with his enthusiasm and his love for words. I wasn’t fortunate to met Raj but I feel I got to know him a bit through all our interactions on this site. I will miss him .
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| Madhusudan H |
Raj & I had the similar paths in IXL 2023. In R1, we got the same word wrong with the same spelling mistake (cafetaria for cafeteria) and compensated for the mistake in subsequent rounds , Raj much more than I did obviously. In Bengaluru, we exchanged this interesting parallel and had a laugh about it. It is shocking to hear that he is not with us anymore. The community certainly feels his absence. Sincere sympathies to Raj’s family and Om Shanti for his atma ! |
| VENKATESAN P. |
Sending my healing prayers and comfort. May God give them the strength to bear the loss.
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| Aashwina mouli |
I knew Raj through his blogs and met him in Ixl this year … absolutely blown away by his crossword skills … not able to come to terms with the fact that he isn’t there with us . My sincere condolences to Sharvari , his sons and his mother . May God give you the strength to bear this loss. I hope Raj is happy doing crosswords and playing bridge in the heaven he has attained .
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| Ashit Hegde |
The last couple of times that Raj visited Mumbai , a few of us crossword buffs met with him and in Raj’s words ” had a whale of a time” discussing crosswords, Hindi film music, books , middle east politics, our children etc. We had promised to meet again in April when his next trip to Mumbai was scheduled. Don’t rest in peace Raj , liven up heaven with your stimulating conversations.
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| R NAGENDRA PRASAD |
A very humble and easy going person who left us rather prematurely. Always was keen to help out whenever in doubt. Had very good camaraderie since 2022 IXL.
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| Samit Kallianpur |
Gone too soon…we’ve lost an amazing all-rounder! Heartfelt condolences..Om Shanti
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| Bhalchandra Pasupathy |
Lively and charismatic, he was an engaging personality in crossword circles, particularly so at the IXL where I met him for the first time. Shocking that he passed just soon after that, we had talked about keeping in touch on a number of things, sadly never had the opportunity. He will be sorely missed by many. My sincere condolences and sympathies to the family
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| N Anantakrishnan |
Raj was a wonderful, charming, witty person. Met him just once but then connected over crosswords, Hindi song quizes and through a common friend. Felt a closeness to him. Will certainly miss him.
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| Venkatraghavan S |
I had interacted with Raj over Facebook when he was outside India, and finally met him during the IXL finals in 2022. He had such a sunny disposition, and a childish exuberance about him, that I feel bad that I missed IXL 2023 and didnt see him again.
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| Shiva |
Raj was my senior from IIT Bombay. We were in the same hostel. He exuded some serious brilliance. I remember once he walked into a movie screening and immediately identified all the actors in the scene (one of them was Steve McQueen) – everyone in the room was amazed. Raj was the champion of debating on IITB campus and the winner of the “just a minute” competition then. Fast forward to Singapore – I was trying to settle in when I moved here and Raj refused to let me pay for my drink/coffee saying “seniors should buy juniors”. He was very generous with his time/introductions. Raj and I texted each other and I had asked him to let me buy him a drink in Bangalore after he moved back but that never happened. I am saddened by his sudden passing and will owe him a drink in the after life. Rest in peace Raj.
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| Ramesh SS |
Om shanti. Did not have the opportunity to interact with Raj. Condolences to the family.
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The Tribute Puzzle
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Annotations (Themed entries have been highlighted)
| Ref | Clue | Answer | Annotation | Setter |
| 1A | So, US aid made us hard-working? (9) | assiduous | SOUSAID* US (Set by Raj himself, also an adjective that describes him) |
Raj Jayaram |
| 5A | Tips of spills cleaned rapidly using bathroom brush (5) | scrub | Acrostic | Aashwina Mouli |
| 8A | Beat generation (4) | time | DD | Tulika Das |
| 9A | Story about Uncle Tom frequently kept getting censored (6) | column | UNCLE TOM*-(k)E(p)T, | Samit Kallianpur |
| 10A | Idea from East, without the leader for a century (3) | ton | NOT (-ION)<<, | Nagendra Prasad |
| 12A | Victor quietly leaving sack in hamlet (7) | village | +(V-p)illage , | Lakshmi Vaidyanathan |
| 13A | Limes or lemons gathered around Scottish village(7) | Melrose | Rev. HIPS | Loks Subrahmanyam |
| 15A | Judges turned on by hot scene (9) | sentences | SENT+SCENE*, | Ashit Hegde |
| 17A | Fired odd, old simpleton (4) | dodo | ODD* O | Amrita Majumdar |
| 20A | Defeat boss finally in venture (4) | best | BE(S)T, (No doubt, Raj was the best in whatever he chose to do) | Sohil Bhagat |
| 22A | Band of Brothers’ core cast mostly disassembled (9) | orchestra | (-B)ROTHER(-S) CAS(-T)* | Ganesh Nayak |
| 24A | Invaders initially ravage raised building (7) | raiders | R RAISED* | Maya Sharma |
| 27A | Dance around man, a servile flatterer (7) | chamcha | CHA(M)CHA, | Mona Sogal |
| 28A | Old man debated regularly (3) | dad | D..A..D (Dad to Vivrut and Viraaj) | SSV Avtaar |
| 29A | One abandoned Hoysala complex is a cultural touchstone (6) | Sholay | HOYSALA*-A, (Cult movie that was one of Raj’s favourites) | Manish Jhaveri |
| 30A | Knight and lord backing adventure (4) | risk | K RIS<<, ( Raj’s domain in banking) | Vikram Chandrasekhar |
| 31A | Big size is said to be better (5) | excel | HP XL, (Raj managed to excel in every field) | Anant |
| 32A | Depart and start to peacefully enter paradise perhaps (9) | disappear | P(-eacefully) in PARADISE*.(RIP Raj) | Satyen Nabar |
| 1D | Advocate and criminal visit a city regularly (8) | activist | VISITACT* (C(-i)T(-y)) (Raj always stood up for his ethical beliefs) | Sparsh Sinha |
| 2D | Aura seen by doctor left inside spooky meeting (9) | semblance | SE(MB L)ANCE | Madhusudhan |
| 3D | Mythical land’s a gas (5) | ozone | OZ ONE | Manish Jhaveri |
| 4D | Versatile Lou Rawls’ final notes produced a popular genre (4,5) | soul music | LOU (rawl)S* + MUSIC (Loved music and old Bollywood songs) | Amrita Majumdar |
| 5D | Exciting first half of game vs Sri Lanka enraptures classy cricketer (5,8) | Sunil Gavaskar | GA(-me) VS SRI LANKA*<<U, (One of Raj’s favourite cricketers along with Sachin Tendulkar) | Sowmya Ramkumar |
| 6D | Old one carrying bags exudes power when climbing (5) | retro | PORTER-P<<<(Loved retro music (Bollywood songs especially)) | SSV Avtaar |
| 7D | Confectioner hiring new financier (6) | banker | BA(N)KER (Raj was a banker by profession) | Lakshmi Vaidyanathan |
| 11D | Metal entrance guards facility (6) | talent | HIPS (Raj’s talent was evident even in his hobbies such as Crosswords, Bridge, Quizzing) | Aashwina Mouli |
| 14D | Leads from radar intercepting officer in port (3) | rio | R I O (Acrostic) | Nagendra Prasad |
| 16D | Within seated rows, sorcerer brought up a puzzle (9) | crossword | Rev. HIPS (Raj loved cryptic crosswords and was an amazing solver and setter) | Loks Subrahmanyam |
| 17D | Partners engrossed in favourite Amitabh movie (6) | Deewar | DE(E W)AR (Another favourite movie of Raj’s) | Ramki Krishnan |
| 18D | Maybe Sherlock’s wrong, time for Feluda’s introduction? (9) | detective | DE(-F+T)ECTIVE (Raj loved detective novels) | Anantakrishnan N |
| 21D | Pulled a stretcher, carrying up and down (3) | sad | Rev HIPS (Themed) | Tulika Das |
| 23D | Bond beginning to balance on narrow hilltop (6) | bridge | B(-alance) + RIDGE (Raj enjoyed a good game of Bridge) | Satyen Nabar |
| 25D | Pointing to five earliest characters of the subcontinent (5) | indic | INDIC(-ating) | Ganesh Nayak |
| 26D | Some take a selfish stand (5) | easel | HIPS | Mona Sogal |
| 27D | Group caught on the French ship (5) | class | C LA SS (Raj conducted classes for a cross section of students and was a highly respected professor at SP Jain Global Mgmt.) | Viraj Divecha |
Raj Jayaram, beloved member of our 1ACross group, passed away on January 13th, 2024. He was 59 years old, and was very fit and healthy but received a sudden diagnosis that ended up taking him from us within a very short span of time.
Raj was a loving husband, father, son, brother and friend. He was an IIT Bombay and IIM Calcutta Alumni, who had a long and illustrious career in the Financial Services sector spanning across Mumbai, Bahrain, Singapore and New York. After ensuring that his wife Sharvari and sons Vivrut and Viraaj were settled, he then pursued his lifelong passion for teaching, and spent his final years as an adjunct professor at the S.P Jain Global School of Management. He taught across Singapore, Mumbai, Dubai and Sydney and was highly praised by his students, receiving exceptional ratings in his course evaluations.
He was also able to spend more time indulging in his hobbies such as Bridge and Crossword competitions, where he came 3rd in the Indian Crossword league (IXL). He engaged in these activities with candor and passion, enjoying the time spent with his friends. He leaves this world prematurely, but having accomplished everything he could have hoped for. The world has lost a highly intelligent, loving and caring person.
This crossword is a tribute and has 36 clues by 23 setters including one by Raj himself.The grid was created by Sowmya Ramkumar. The following setters have set clues for the grid (in the order of their clues in the grid). Raj Jayaram, Aashwina Mouli, Tulika Das, Samit Kallianpur, Nagendra Prasad R., Lakshmi Vaidyanathan, Loks Subrahmanyam, Ashit Hegde, Amrita Majumdar, Sohil Bhagat, Ganesh Nayak, Maya Sharma, Mona Sogal, SSV Avtaar, Manish Jhaveri, Vikram Chandrasekhar, Anantakrishnan N., Satyen Nabar, Sparsh Sinha, Madhusudan H., Sowmya Ramkumar, Ramki Krishnan and Viraj Divecha.
I take this opportunity to thank Sharvari Jayaram, Vivrut and Viraaj Jayaram for the valuable inputs that have made this tribute grid possible. Thanks to all our setters, Ramki Krishnan and Satyen Nabar who also test solved and helped to fine tune the grid.