When The Times of India took the long ladder down in the late 1990s, among the things its brand managers knocked out was the cryptic crossword with barely a squeak from readers, editors (and TOI receptionists!) who had grown up on it.
No such luck with the Hindustan Times.
The paper may have long buried its reputation as “the only English newspaper written in Punjabi”, but its decision to do away with the cryptic crossword that it reprinted from The Times, London, as part of a redesign, was met with a volley of criticism, including from TOI‘s non-resident jughead.
And, presto, about the only activity that (thankfully) can’t be crowd-sourced is back—with a front-page announcement of its return.
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Quiz question: Who was the editor who set the crossword for the now-defunct The Illustrated Weekly of India?
Hint: He is also a cricket buff and a music buff.
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Also read: Why Jug Suraiya doesn’t buy Hindustan Times
IJR 
Answer to the quiz question : Raju Bharathan