Conquest of the ET crossword

First I would like to set the table (first thought of writing "set the stage",
then thought "setting stage is too grandiose") as to why this event is so
significant in my life.

In 1996 I entered engineering at REC Trichy and was promptly initiated into
culturals early. One fine morning our 4th year seniors decided to take the bold
and unprecedented step of taking us facchas (first year students) to
intercollegiate competitions. The norm till then had been to let 4th years and
3rd years go out and stake their claim for glory while the kids developed into
studs. Sometimes 2nd years also went out.

So one day in September/October 1996, we woke up at 4 am (actually by then I had
gotten into the habit of not sleeping till early morning or "night out" as we
call it) and hence didn't sleep much.

While we got together and then set out for a college in Karaikudi, it was about
5:30 am. Then we were joined by our seniors. We boarded a bus to town where we
were expected to change buses to reach Karaikudi. When we got on the local bus,
one senior (named Anil) unwrapped a newspaper which he had kept in his bag till
then. This was the Hindu crossword. Then while we watched fascinatedly, he began
to fill up clues. Another 3rd year senior (I think it was Rama) said, "Watch
this guy. By the time we reach town (which was about a 30 min journey), he would
have cracked the grid." And promptly enough when we reached town, Anil was upto
his reputation.

We eagerly asked him for the newspaper and tried to figure out what the clues
meant. Later at CECRI, the only competition we had was from IIT Madras which
generates a bank of quizzers, much like Pakistan generates fast bowlers. God
knows where they come from, but they keep coming!

Anyways as the events unfolded, my team (Karan Malla (my best buddy and teammate
for all of 4 years except in the inter departmental competitions since he was in
Computer Science and I was in Electrical and Electronics Engg.), Prithu Sinha
(my department mate and one crazy human calculator. He can compute inverse
tangents to a second decimal place!)) and myself did make it to the quizzes, but
we didn't win anything. I also participated in the crossword for the first time
in my life with Prithu (also a first timer at crosswords, but with a fantastic
capability in English). We eventually came 4th in the finals, which was a
pleasant surprise. As things would turn out, I would win nothing at Karaikudi in
my 1st 2 outings, but more than made up in my next 2(last 2) outings winning
everything I entered, but then that's another story.

This first taste of blood whetted my appetite for some pursuit which would
provide an avenue to pass time (of which you had lots if you were like me in
engg. !) as well as develop a new hobby. We came back to college and subscribed
to the Hindu. We were at it for about a year. Several batchmates got really good
at it. I was ok at it and could crack the Hindu grid by the time we got to
second term. I began subscribing to the Economic Times (which is perhaps the
most readable Indian business paper, meaning that the Business Line from the
Hindu group is good, but is much like the Hindu, boring!), since we discovered
that the ET had the Daily Mail (UK) crossword which was much tougher to crack.

So I used to try to solve almost everyday. We got some gyaan as well from
seniors like Anil, Seenu and Varma. Anil and Varma were teammates and still are
crossie maniacs. Both subscribe to the London Times / NY Times crosswords which
are paid subscriptions and crack them as well. The only time Varma and Anil
faced each other, was in the above mentioned inter departmental fest since Varma
was in Electronics and Anil was in Comp. Sc. .This was a treat to watch as they
used to watch each other solve trying to finish before the other so that their
dept could get more points. In the only one, we were witnesses to, Anil finished
first and submitted. A somewhat disappointed Varma did the same, a little later.
Anil had one wrong clue and hence Varma won!

There were several cracks at the ET crossword by us together (raghu, lambu and
me), raghu alone, sidin (Domain Maximus) alone, sidin and me a few times, but I
had never done this all by myself.

My previous best had been a couple of years ago when I had just 4 clues left.
Later it turned out that one of my solutions was wrong which had blocked me from
cracking 2 of the 4. Anyways it had been a sad story till yesterday.

Yesterday I started on a bright note on the way to work. I cracked about 6 on
the bus to work in the morning itself. Since I was feeling restless at work and
had nothing to do, I left early. I went to Barista which has proved to be
beneficial in the past to cerebral pursuits such as this one.

The invigorating effect of caffeine led to all but 4 clues being cracked. I
thought that I should leave the final onslaught before going to bed. While I had
dinner at a friend's place, he pointed one error.

Before he could dampen this enthusiasm any more, I snatched my grid and decided
to go for it.

And then it happened. One of the tough clues unravelled itself and I had a 15
letter clue done. The rest was simple.

And here I sit smugly with the crossword nestled in my wallet as a two
dimensional witness of my feat.

I have never pursued anything for such an extended period of time. And I have
contemplated picking up something easier, but then thanks to the indefatigable
male ego, this has survived. This makes it doubly pleasant.

The last time I felt like this was when I did 2.8 kms in 10 mins 39 secs.
Although that's another story, I have never managed to go below even 11 mins for
that distance. So I know its significance

Dhammo