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It is all in the way the system is used

That The Hindu has a large number of crossword buffs among its vast readership is known. Also known is that they are passionate about their interest. How passionate they could be was revealed to us on October 19, 2007. The phone did not cease ringing in the office of the Readers’ Editor. The computer disgorged complaints about one issue, varying only in tone, ranging from anger to sarcasm to subtle humour.

The cause of all this was that day’s crossword — it had the proper serial number, a new grid and a solution grid, but the clues were what were published the previous day! Many of the callers declared their day to be ruined. Some said they bought the paper only for the crossword and threw it into the wastepaper basket when they found out the serious lapse. One reader said he was calling late because he was busy in the morning with his daughter’s marriage — that revealed the intensity of the addiction.

Most of the mails were to the point; only the two grids were new, while the title, clues and solution number were identical with those published a day earlier. Gross negligence and readers being taken for a ride, said the gentler of the protesters. One reader nearly hit the bullseye when he said: “Somebody is in a holiday hurry.” The person in charge explained to me that he had to leave a bit early (the next day was a holiday!) and had entrusted the task of clearing the final page to a colleague, passing on the proof of the correct matter to be published.

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How did the error occur? There is a simple but complicated technology involved. In the page-making software The Hindu uses, “stories” are stored in different “baskets.” The grids and clues are in different baskets from which they have to be “dragged” and “dropped” into the relevant page. It was human error that was the cause; the wrong file was used.

(A similar error, for similar reasons, occurred a few days later. A Friday issue of the paper carried the radio programmes of the previous Friday. “The sub-editor failed to update,” was the answer I got to my query, how did it happen? But unlike the crossword bloomer, this repetition attracted little notice. Only one reader pointed it out to me. So also on November 11, when some TV programmes of the previous day were repeated.)

That raises a relevant question. In these baskets, is there no indication of what has already been used? There is, I am told. (I don’t use the system, so I have to be briefed.) The published matter carries the date it was used. That this was overlooked indicates carelessness or more: gross negligence. But isn’t there some way to separate the used and the unused? It can be done, but is not done. There are some stories that are used in different editions on different days, and a blanket bar would make this impossible.

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On errors and their rectification, Prof. A. Balagangadharan (Pollachi, Tamil Nadu) has reservations. “A crossword has a life span of just 24 hours and the corrections would not compensate the mental agony of the avid cruciverbalist.” I thank the professor for adding to my vocabulary and agree with him about the agony caused. A newspaper itself has only a 24-hour life, but I know many people who keep back the paper for doing the crossword later.

Our purpose in making the corrections is to set the record straight. That purpose is fully served only when the published corrections are tagged on to the relevant item in the electronic archives (as The Guardian does.) I made this point earlier also.

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What follows carries a caveat: I am an ignoramus as far as crosswords are concerned, and I depend on what readers tell me on this subject.

The Hindu has a recent addition to its list of compilers, and his work has been attracting critical attention for his unconventional methods — he is original and avoids stereotypes. K.H.R. Reddy (Mysore) says, “The Hindu is the most dignified and a very standard daily … Another great feature is its crossword, an excellent pastime for oldies. But a great disappointment in yesterday’s and today’s (crosswords is that they are) without any clues and linking clues. I can get the feeling of meditation while solving … Kindly ask the composer to return to earlier mode.”

Other comments: Some clues are not clues at all, and admit of multiple answers, which should not be the case in a crossword. There are three or more consecutive cells without crossings — which is what makes the puzzle a crossword — and solvers then find the going tough. There is also too much cross-referencing and there are too many quotational or encyclopaedic clues that need research to solve.

Because of the interconnections in clues, a solver finds it impossible to proceed when the basic clue is left dangling. Every clue has to contain some definition of the solution word — cryptic, partial, or implied. This is lacking. These are the views of some readers.

The compiler (who in keeping with The Hindu tradition, he is nameless; this I find turns away some compilers), replying to K.H.R. Reddy, says that the clues are very much there but a little more complicated than usual. “I am myself an oldie,” he says, “and I do not believe that the puzzles I have set pose insurmountable challenges or disturb one’s equanimity. In fact, at our age, a little bit of excitement might do as much good as meditation, perhaps more.”

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Tailpiece: A study by Scott R. Maier, Associate Professor, University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication (Eugene, U.S.), finds that almost half the articles published by daily newspapers in the U.S. contained one or more factual errors and less than two per cent of these end up being corrected.

readerseditor@thehindu.co.in

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It is all in the way the system is used

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