FAQs

For information of all visitors I retired from the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army after 32 years of service. I joined the Corps in 76 on completion of my Engineering from PSG Tech, Coimbatore. I started this blog on 04 Feb 2009 after getting inspired by a blog on the Star Tribune CW (Now known as the L.A. Times CW) which was run by CC, a chinese lady settled in  the US. The CW which used to appear in the Times of India was the same as in the Star Tribune and appeared after a considerable time lag that's how I chanced upon the blog. Having got fed up with the TOI CW I went back to my old CW from 'The Hindu' and decided to start a blog on my own.

As in all blogs it took time to catch on and after a few days I decided to schedule my posts to appear daily at 8:30 AM thereby giving everyone time to crack the CW on their own before coming to the blog.  As of now on 14 Jun 14 there are 504 followers of the blog (though I do not know how many still follow the blog out of those) however I am happy that the blog has now become a meeting place for many of the regulars and we discuss not only the CW but items of other interest too at times.

Some other points I would like others to know.

Comments

I feel that many visitors to the blog are still not aware that they too can comment on the blog by just clicking on the comments link seen at the bottom of the days post. I find that many visitors send their comments to me by e-mail. So make use of the comments feature and post your comments directly.

There are no restrictions on posting comments as long as they are not offensive in nature. Unfortunately there was an occasion when I had to remove some offensive remarks however that was a one off occasion and has never again happened.

THCC Members

There is a page dedicated to followers of the blog where you can post details about yourselves however you will have to send me the details and I will enter the details on that page.

Contributors

As of today Bhavan from Australia blogs on Saturday, Kishore from Bangalore blogs on Monday and Friday and I handle the other days, Rishikesh (aka Chaturvasi) from Chennai, Gita in the USA and Richard Lasrado are on standby and help us at times to  post the days blog when the three of us are not in a position to meet the daily deadline of 8:30 AM due to other commitments.As of today ie 01 Dec 21 I blog on all days less Saturday when Ramesh Jagannathan from Hyderabad blogs for the day.

Holidays

On days when there is no edition of The Hindu I do post special CW's .

Sunday Specials

On Sundays since the participation is low I have started a feature called Sunday Specials where CW's from budding setters and other regulars are posted at 10:30 AM. Solutions to these specials are giving by the commenters. Normally each commenter is permitted to provide three answers with annotations.
Anyone is free to send in a CW for publication as a Sunday special. Procedure to be followed is given under the page 'Guidelines for Sunday Specials'

Friday Blog

On Fridays I post the blank clues at 7 AM and non-regulars/nvices are permitted to submit 5 solutions each, with proper annotations. Regulars are permitted to submiy one answer each after 11 AM if any clues are still not solved.

THCC Families

I also have another blog known as THCC families where I put in pictures of followers of my blog, events connected with the blog or followers of the blog. Link to this blog is available on the left hand side.

22 comments:

  1. Hi,

    I usually attempt THC on the iPhone App. But since the last couple of months (I guess, more than that), I am unable to access any crossword via the app. Is there an issue? If yes, is there any indication that this will get resolved in future (and when?).
    Any response will be much obliged.

    Regards,
    Sobhan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sobhan,

      The problem is because the CW is uploaded very late generally after 7:30 AM and on some days it is not uploaded at all.

      Delete
  2. Hi,
    Is the creator of the THC Android app in this group? Anyway we can request to get the app running :(. That was my only way to solve THC. I remember there was a website as well where you could solve online.
    Thanks in anticipation
    P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No he is not in this group. THC is now freely available in the online newspaper itself as an interactive version, so you do not need any app

      Delete
  3. Since yesterday, when I try to access the the crossword on line , a google document from EFI pops up asking for weekend volunteers for social work. I am unable to access the interactive online crossword. Can anyone help please with advice?
    U. Sethurayar at usrayar@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nice work! Have you ever thought of compiling your crosswords into a book and publishing it? A good way to hand this down to the next generation.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi! I wanted to start filling hindu crosswords. however, they seem way too difficult for me. how do i start?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Visit the 'Links for beginners' section in www.crosswordunclued.com or visit czdcrosswords.com

      Delete
  6. Sir
    When could we post answers on Sundays?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kalsri,
      If you are talking about the regular Sunday blog which appears at 8:30, you can comment anytime, however as all the answers are already given out you can only clear your doubts if any.
      As regards the specials which appear at 10:30 on a Sunday, you can post three answers immediately after 10:30 as mentioned in the instructions.

      Delete
  7. Hi,
    I intend to join the family of THCC, kindly detail me how do I do it. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is no requirement of joining, Anybody is free to comment in thw comments section of the daily blog

      Delete
  8. Replies
    1. No. They will be resumed after the online rounds of IXL are completed. Next special will appear on 09 Dec

      Delete
  9. Replies
    1. IXL is open to anyone. Please comment on the blog with any queries. I normally do not monitor this page

      Delete
  10. I just started with crosswords and I find this blog very helpful. Thank you for creating and maintaining it.

    ReplyDelete
  11. For last few days HCW is not accessible . Requist u to kindly provide the grid and clues for solvers prior to the solved puzzle . Regards

    ReplyDelete
  12. GRIDMAN WAS ALWAYS SOLVER FRIENDLY ,TO NAME IT ON PONGAL DAY ,COULD SOLVE THE CLUES WITH JOY BUT THE REST OF THE COMPILERS MAKE IT HARD N HARDER LIKE A COURSE TEXT.REACHING A STAGE WHEN I THINK OF STOP BUYING THE NEWSPAPER ITSELF

    ReplyDelete
  13. What is the easiest cryptic crossword day? Does The Hindu follow the convention that Monday will be easiest with increasing difficulty all the week? I am an absolute beginner (started solving my first crossword four days ago)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Hindu does not follow any such convention. The easiest Crosswords however are by the setter 'Incognito'

      Delete

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