Patna: The 13th Indian Crossword League (IXL), dubbed the ‘Wimbledon of crosswords,’ is heating up, with international competitors demonstrating extraordinary skill by claiming four of the top ten spots in the recently concluded fourth online round.
The results of Round 4 saw a clean sweep of the podium by overseas players: Erik Agard from Kansas City took the first position, followed by Philip Coote from Canberra in second, and Matthew Marcus from Portland in third.
Indian champions proved strong contenders, with former winners Ramki Krishnan (Chennai) and Shashwat Salgaocar (Panaji) securing the 4th and 5th positions, respectively. Veteran international solver Sowmya Ramkumar from Manama rounded out the top ten at number 10.
The Race to Bengaluru
With six more online rounds scheduled for the coming Sundays, the cumulative leaderboard shows the race to the Grand Finale is wide open. The current top three remain dominated by the international solvers: Erik Agard holds the number one spot, followed by Matthew Marcus at number two. Ramki Krishnan is the top-ranked Indian player at number three.
The standings highlight the volatility of the contest: while Shashwat Salgaocar is firmly placed at number five, Round 4’s second-place finisher, Philip Coote, currently sits strangely low at number 41 overall. This unpredictability is one of the contest’s thrills.
The IXL follows an online-offline format consisting of ten online rounds. A new grid is posted every Sunday at 11 am (India time) on www.crypticsingh.com, with solutions due by Wednesday. The top 30 contestants on the cumulative scoreboard after the ten rounds will be invited to the offline Grand Finale in Bengaluru to compete for the prestigious National Crossword Champion Trophy. Contestants may register at any stage during the run of the contest.
