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August 17, 2023

This I-banker moved to the US on a permanent 'Einstein' visa—for his crossword skills

Mangesh Ghogre, former executive director and head of equity capital markets at Nomura India, made it to the US on an Einstein visa, given for 'extraordinary abilities'. He is the first Indian to have constructed a crossword for The New York Times, and most recently, published a Taj-Mahal crossword ode in the paper, themed around India's Independence Day...

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March 13, 2023

How crosswords made Mangesh Ghogre America's 'Einstein' - Times of India

It all began with him and his classmates picking up The Times of India crossword in the hope that it would improve their vocabulary and help them crack the GMAT

Back in 1997, like most other engineering students of his generation, Mangesh Ghogre dreamt of moving to the US. Today, he has made his dream...

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October 13, 2021

60 Seconds With Mangesh Ghogre

A chat with one of the New York Times Crossword constructors.

Best gift you have ever been given, material or otherwise?

I remember I gifted myself a huge Random House Webster’s dictionary when I was 17. I still have it. I think every word I studied in that dictionary has been like a brick in the wall of my life...

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October 2, 2019

Gandhi at 150: Icon immortalised in special New York Times crossword, made by Indian

Investment banker Mangesh Ghogre went from a boy with limited vocabulary and no exposure to American culture to becoming the only Indian to have published crosswords in The New York Times—including a prestigious one to mark Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary on October 2, presented with a twist...

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MAY 16, 2018

This Boy From Mumbai Became the World’s Unlikeliest Crossword King

As a teenager, Mangesh Ghogre was obsessed with decoding puzzles filled with foreign references. Now he’s the only non-American to ever create them for The New York Times.

In a brightly lit room on the ground floor of the United States Consulate General building in Mumbai, India, Mangesh Ghogre...

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March 16-18, 2012

Letter from Mangesh Ghogre [35th Annual ACPT, 2012]

A crossword enthusiast from India, Mangesh Ghogre, is coming to the ACPT this year as an official. It's his first trip ever to the U.S. And to my memory he's our first participant ever from India, as either a judge or a contestant. Below is a short piece he just wrote about crosswords and his forthcoming trip. –Will Shortz

For someone like me, who has come all the...

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