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It’s with great regret that I share with our readers that Gridman (C.G.Rishikesh) passed away due to a cardiac arrest on the 14th of April 2021.

Here’s a tribute to him that has been published today – in the latest issue of the “i” (in the Clue Corner of Inquisitor 1696 ). Thanks to John Henderson (Nimrod) for this thoughtful gesture.

As the original print edition is not available to readers outside the UK, I am sharing a screenshot here.

Many tributes from solvers and setters have been pouring in on social media. Here are some from Twitter

Also, here’s my tribute to Gridman that was published in “The Hindu’s” CluedIn Blog. earlier this week.

Gridman (Chaturvasi) is a legend and had been the face of Indian crosswords in the International community. He was also known as “Rishi” (short for his real name Rishikesh) to all his friends and this was a name familiar to cruciverbalists across various online communities where he would comment and provide insights in his unique and refreshing style.

His comments were not only knowledgeable but also tinged with humour. In spite of his extensive knowledge and experience, he exhibited a child-like curiosity and always wanted to learn – whether it was about new software related to crosswords, tricks in Excel that would help him to manipulate his substantial clue database, new forums online or techniques in clueing. I am fortunate to have had many email discussions with him on all of these topics.

He would often go out of his way to help and support new comers to the world of crosswords and has been a mentor and guide to numerous people in this field. I will never forget his gesture of blogging one of my earliest grids for the Hindu Business Line’s brand supplement (Cat.a.Lyst). It made me feel welcomed and part of the setters’ community. His review was generous and thoughtful. He encouraged me to set for The Hindu as well and was instrumental in recommending my empanelment as a setter for The Hindu Crosswords.

He would always make time to meet me whenever I visited Chennai. Extremely tech savvy, he has been a founder member of the 1Across group on Facebook and actively participated in our souvenir and book projects. In fact, he’d accompanied Mr. Ramki Krishnan and me when we went to meet Dr. Santha at the Adyar Cancer Research Institute to donate the proceeds raised from our first book Cryptic Crossroads Volume 1. He later wrote to me that it was an unforgettable and memorable meeting in his life.

He loved poetry and literature and has translated several books. He was a phenomenal raconteur who regaled us with many interesting anecdotes. He was a treasure trove of crossword related trivia and I had always hoped that he would write a book about Crosswords in general and Indian Crosswords in particular.

I was fortunate to have had a long telephone conversation with him only a couple of weeks ago. His sent me an email as recently as Monday and had sent in a message appreciating a clue in my grid published in The Hindu that morning. This kind of generosity and appreciation of anything he liked was a quintessential characteristic of Gridman and the reason why he will be sorely missed – they just don’t make gentlemen like this anymore.

The passing away of Gridman is certainly the end of an era. It feels like a personal loss of a family member. I can only seek solace in the fact that every time I try one of his grids, I get the feeling that I’m having a conversation with the one and only Gridman. Given his phenomenal body of work, I plan to go back to his grids and try them and there are still many conversations to be had.

If any of our blog regulars would like to share your thoughts and interactions with him, please do leave your comments as well.

By Sowmya

Sowmya is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and independent financial consultant based in the Middle East (Bahrain). She is a puzzle editor at Amuselabs. She has set over 1,300 crosswords for various publications including over 1000 mini crosswords, cryptic crosswords (under the pseudonym Hypatia for The Hindu) and themed crosswords for Cat.a.lyst (part of The Hindu Businessline). Sowmya runs the Facebook group 1Across where seasoned cruciverbalists interact while setting and solving clues. She has published three compilations of crosswords viz Cryptic Crossroads Volumes 1, 2 and 3. She Tweets cryptic clues daily @somsram

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