“Give to Gain” was a special puzzle put together with several talented cruciverbalists from across the globe on International Women’s Day 2026.

Stats: 112 solvers attempted this puzzle.  55 solvers managed to complete the puzzle, of which 53 solvers also completed the bonus forms. As many as 27 solvers got the full score.

Try the puzzle here (Annotations will be visible on solving the puzzle or on clicking “Reveal Grid”)

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Here’s the solution grid (Click on the triangle to see it)

Bonus Questions: 1. The six terms spelt out from extra letters in the wordplay (6,7,6,3,3,3)

Ans

Rights, Justice, Action, for, all, IWD

2. Field linking the themed personalities in this puzzle

Ans

Sports

3. One of two themed personalities whose name is only partly represented in the grid

Ans

Comaneci or Wilma

4-6. Any of the 5 themed personalities whose first and last names appear in the grid

Ans

Any 3 of Simone Biles, Steffi Graf, Dawn Fraser, Serena Williams, Venus Williams

Logged in solvers can check their submission Here:

Here’s the list of Top Scorers (For the full list, please check the Leaderboard in the Hall of Fame)

Out of 112 solvers,  55 completed and submitted the grid and 53 completed the bonus form as well. Of these,  27 got the full score. Each of the following scored 156 points (Grid Score – 145,  Bonus – 11).

Aashwina Mouli, Amita Annette Joseph, Arnav V Raju, Arun Hiregange, Arvind Ramaswamy, Ashit Hegde, Bhalchandra Pasupathy, D Narayana Swamy, Harish Kamath, Lakshmi A J Vaidyanathan, Lakshmi Prakash, Madhup Tewari, Mona Sogal, NARAYANAN R, Nick Loader, P. Venkatesan, Panyam Tejas, paulhenderson991700421, Prakash Arumugam, Ramachandra Nagendra Prasad, Ramki Krishnan, Ratnakumar V, Samit Kallianpur, Sparsh Sinha, Supriya Mithal, Usha Dronamraju,Venkatraghavan S

Congrats to the toppers and to all the solvers who participated.

We are also happy to announce a special prize for this grid. One amongst the “all correct” entries, has been picked by lucky draw to receive an autographed copy of Reverie,(Amazon – India) a collection of poems by Dr. Lakshmi Balaji, PhD. (scroll below for details).

The Winner of the Lucky draw is Arnav Raju. Please reach out to us with your address details so we can mail the prize.

Grid Rating: The puzzle got a good rating of 8.8. It was rated a perfect 10 by 15 out of the 53 folks who voted (28%). The lowest rating was 5.

Favourite Clues:  Almost all the clues garnered at least one vote.  The clues that were picked most times were..

Clue	Votes	Setter
10A Gets worried about harp intro cutting off piano player (8)	12	Cherie
27A Can I come with Charlie to work out with that amazing gymnast? (8)	11	Heidi
20A Lost gold in flawed race (3)	10	Aashwina
22D Mostly calm, active woman, one playing international slam, winning title regularly (6,8)	10	Lakshmi
2D Chiefly homemaker, often unappreciated, overburdened, she effortlessly works in familial environment (9)	10	Mona
28A Spice Girl tracking fan—too much excitement basically (6)	9	Viraj
4D Butterfly expert wanders freely around very noisy gallery (4,6)	9	Ruskin
8A GOAT No. 1, celebrity essentially, smiles freely (6,5)	9	Sowmya
18A Mrs Flintstone whips up irresistible little mushroom appetisers for starters (5)	8	Viraj
26A Uproar in vehicle, alas – son lost key (8)	7	Crypt on Y X
22A One who famously served pickled giraffe, fed to Street FC (6,4)	7	Jennie
9A Harry ate litchi to be strong and fit (8)	7	Amrita
26D Characters from top-notch Dickens\’ classic (4)	7	Claire

Hope you all enjoyed the puzzle as much as we did in bringing it to you. A big thanks from me, Qrypt On Y X and the entire team for the terrific  feedback and the fabulous response.

PS: The solvers comments are in the comments thread in the post itself.

Sowmya: (Founder of 1Across.org. Conceptualized the puzzle/ Constructed the grid). Sowmya is the puzzle editor at Amuselabs, cryptic crossword compiler Hypatia for “The Hindu” and Enigmaya for “The Hindustan Times”. She has independently published three books viz., Cryptic Crossroads 1, 2 and 3. Other than cryptics, she also sets US style mini crosswords and these are published in The Boston Globe, Seattle Times, Indiamini.in and other publications. She lives in Bahrain with her husband, son and a golden retriever.

Lakshmi Vaidyanathan: (Admin. of 1Across on Facebook). Compiler “Saral” for “The Hindu” & Lava for Hindustan Times (online). Have been setting crosswords for Col’s blog THCC, Extra-C and 1Across. Have won IITM Crossword competition twice. Member of Crossword Association Of Tamil Nadu, India, conducting crossword competitions with Ramki Krishnan, in TN.

Qrypt On Y X: (Co-ordinated with the setters and helped to edit the clues): Woman on Wonderlust.

Aashwina Mouli: Social causes, crosswords and travel keep me busy on most days now. I have tried setting grids in 1Across with some success this year and the last. Thanks to Sowmya, hopefully getting better at setting. Happy to see more and more women setters in The Hindu and Hindustan Times crossword puzzles. May the tribe increase!

Amrita Majumdar: I am based in Bangkok. I create crossword puzzles for HT as Dark Horse. I love clever clues, neat grids and that very special ‘aha’ moment when a clue just clicks!

Cherie Maharam: From Pittsburgh, PA; enthusiastic but less-than-masterful bridge player; fan of jumbo blueberries; astonished that I still can’t get things done despite being retired.

Claire Louise Clark: I’m Claire. I am originally from London but I am now a proud Brisbane local of over 25 years. I work in the disability sector and set cryptic clues whenever I can steal a quiet moment! I’m delighted to contribute to this International Women’s Day 2026 grid. While crossword setting has traditionally been male dominated, the creativity and skill of female setters deserve to be seen and celebrated. I’m proud to be part of a community that highlights and supports that talent.

Gayathri Viswanath: Gayathri is a homemaker from Bahrain. Reading, writing, K-dramas and cricket take most of her free time. Though a not-so-newbie to crosswords, she is trying to find her way around one clue at a time.

Guinevere: Guinevere has been regularly setting crosswords for just over a year – her national debut was on IWD last year with a themed puzzle in the Independent. She sets as Dice in the Guardian and Kybos in the Times. She was late-diagnosed with ADHD, is a member of Mensa, and works in Software.

Heidi: Retired speech/language pathologist who lives with her husband and two adorable cats. Interests include Hawaiian studies, perfume, and messing about with words.

Mona: I am an entrepreneur from Bangalore. I was introduced to Cryptic Crosswords a dozen years ago and I got into a long term relationship 😅(having the best time of my life since then.) I am setting grids for newspapers since nearly 2 years in the name of Pixie Dust and ThinkerBelle 🙂 Happy Women’s Day to all of us and know that Women need to be celebrated everyday 💕💞

Neelima Rai: Neelima is an IT professional from orange city who enjoys the quiet challenge of setting and solving crosswords

Ruskin: Ruskin (Claire Bennie) started solving in her teens and setting in her 50s; is inspired by her great aunt Barbara who was a daily 15-minute Times solver; lives in an art deco flat on the right side of the Thames; has been an architect, non-profit developer and housing consultant; sings choral music; loves 80s pop.

Sandhya Jasti Paruchuri: Home-maker. Pastimes – pampering 3 grandsons, solving puzzles, painting and gardening.

Shobha Nayak: I have been solving cryptic crosswords since 1997 when a dear friend introduced me to the Economic Times grid and they are now a daily ritual. I was a finalist in the Indian Crossword League IXL 2025 contest. I hold engineering and management degrees and have worked in various corporate positions. I am also an avid reader, piano student and enjoy pencil sketching.

Supriya Mithal: From Delhi NCR, love setting and solving cryptic crosswords. It’s great to be part of this annual feature. Happy Women’s Da

Viraj Divecha: Hi! So happy to be here today. I love Crosswords, punning, music and mountains. I used to work as a textile designer and ran art workshops for kids. I live in Bangalore, and my dream is to settle down somewhere in the Himalayas one day..🙂 .

Viveca Bhatkal: It is amazing how I can never ever tire of cryptics. Like I never tire of reading—English classics, history, comics, politics, detective stories. Like I never tire of listening to old Hindi film songs and going for long, long walks. Some things are forever. Happy Women’s Day ! A day to reaffirm our commitment to do our best to make the world a more compassionate, equitable and peaceful one.

WOMEN’S DAY  MESSAGE

Self expression is viewed as a sign of progress as it indicates independence, agency and empowerment. Rightfully, this ought to be a fundamental trait of all human beings.  Cultural and historical factors have however made self expression the privilege of a few, gender discrimination being a major impediment. While Women’s Day can be a celebration of achievements by Women , let it be a reminder to extend our hands to women on the other side of visible and invisible barriers. Let celebration begin from understanding and expression of the self. Happy Women’s Day. Dr. Lakshmi Balaji, PhD.

Reverie is a canopy of poems from which showers, emotions of love, anguish, anger, fear, surprise, anxiety, happiness and many other feelings that echo from the author’s experiences compelling a bond between the reader and the poems. “By the lakes of Udaipur” transports you to the Rajput era, immortalizing love and pigeons, transcending the passages of time, “The Mississippi” is a subtle portrayal of the majestic river’s historicity. “Living martyrs” interrogates sacrifice. “The mountain” reveals the magic and raw lushness that tickles the senses and the soul. “Can’t Love Anymore” freezes you with the anguish of loss. “Beyond love” explores love in the direction of entwined minds with mutual respect. “Memories drifting” is a heartfelt narration of the last moments of an aged , tired mind that was never told. Exploring varied emotions, Reverie is a unique vintage collection to be read and cherished.

Dr. Lakshmi Balaji, is a scholar of literature and an educator by vocation. She has long nurtured a deep engagement with language, culture, and the power of expression. Her foray into poetry reflects the convergence of her personal quest for creative articulation and her deep empathy for the world around. She lives with her family in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and is Vice-Principal and Head of the department of English at Dr. MGR Janaki College of Arts & Science for Women.