Patna: US crossword experts have maintained their dominance in the 13th edition of the global Indian Crossword League (IXL), with Erik Agard of Kansas City and Matthew Marcus of Portland leading the field at the end of the contest’s preliminary stage.
In the tenth and final online round, Agard secured first place, followed closely by Marcus in second. The next two spots were also taken by international contestants: Philip Coote of Canberra and Neville Fogarty of Newport News placed third and fourth, respectively.
With the completion of all ten rounds, the cumulative leaderboard has been finalised. Marcus tops the overall rankings, with Agard in second place. Chennai’s Ramki Krishnan, a six-time IXL champion, follows in third.
The top 30 solvers from the cumulative rankings, along with winners of any individual online round, qualify for the offline Grand Finale to be held in Bengaluru. Among the top 30 are two more overseas players: Sowmya Ramkumar from Manama at sixth and Vasant Srinivasan from Banchang at 25th. Coote and Fogarty, despite their strong finish in the final round, stand at 39th and 63rd on the cumulative list.
Organisers retain the discretion to award wild card entries to participants based on consistent performance through the season.
The Indian Crossword League, conducted by Extra-C, is a two-stage global contest that brings together top crossword enthusiasts from around the world. The preliminary phase, consisting of ten online rounds hosted on crypticsingh.com, has unfolded over the past two and a half months as part of IXL 2025. The offline Grand Finale is expected to take place around Christmas.
