Man proposes to puzzle-loving girlfriend through her favourite crossword

He contacted The Indian Express daily to place the message ‘Marry Me’ in crossword with the clue reading ‘Words with a nice ring to them?’

The crossword puzzle used in the proposal (Indian Express Puzzles & Games/Instagram)

A filmmaker from Pune in the western Indian state of Maharashtra has proposed to his girlfriend using the crossword of The Indian Express newspaper.

The man, who chose to stay anonymous, got in touch with the daily’s puzzle editor to place the message “Marry Me” in last Thursday’s crossword, with the clue reading, “Words with a nice ring to them?”

He also requested the word “champa,” Hindi for the Frangipani flower, which is of significance to the couple.

“I wanted the proposal to have something that’s part of our everyday life. I also wanted it to be intimate, rather than in a public space. And since IE’s crossword is something we have done together many times, it would be an unexpected surprise,” he told the newspaper.

The woman described being “in shock throughout”.

The couple, who are in a long-distance relationship, did the crossword regularly together over Whatsapp which gave the man the idea to incorporate it in his proposal.

Anant Goenka, executive director of the newspaper, shared the story on his social media, writing: “The girlfriend, a puzzle-loving historian, could not go a day without doing the Express crossword with her morning chai. The boyfriend emails the Express puzzles team enlisting our help to have ‘marry me’ in our mini crossword.”

The day of the proposal, 4 July, the man recalled getting anxious as his girlfriend struggled with a few of the clues.

“When she clicked on 7-Across, the pivotal clue, the answer did not strike her. So she moved on. Meanwhile, I kept fidgeting with the ring in my pocket. Seven minutes later, with more letters filled in, Juhi finally had her eureka moment,” he said.

As soon as she said the words “Marry me” out loud, he pulled the ring out and proposed.

“The moment she said it, everything started moving very fast. I pulled the ring out of my pocket and went down on one knee. Of course, she said yes!”

The crossword enthusiasts spent the next few minutes solving the rest of the crossword together, and called it one of their “slowest attempts”, clocking in at 12 minutes and 57 seconds.

The crossword puzzle used in the proposal (Indian Express Puzzles & Games/Instagram)

The Internet reacted very happily to the sweet story, with several people praising the daily and the puzzles editor for going along with the idea and many joking this would induce them to start reading the newspaper and solve the crossword as well.

“What an absolutely endearing tale! Finding love between the lines, literally!” said one user on X.