Patna: Students from Delhi’s leading higher education institutions dominated the latest round of the Bihar Foundation National Inter-College Crossword Expedition (Bihar Foundation NICE 2026), reinforcing the capital’s growing reputation in competitive crossword solving.
Organised jointly by Extra-C and the Crossword Federation of India (CWFI) under the title sponsorship of the Bihar Foundation, with support from the Central Bank of India, the championship drew strong performances from students representing premier institutions across the country.
Delhi Students Lead National Leaderboard
The National Leaderboard was topped by Adya Singh of St Stephen’s College, Delhi.
Students from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi claimed two of the top three positions, with Arnav V. Raju and Divyam Jain securing second and third places respectively, highlighting the strong showing by Delhi-based institutions.
Zonal Champions Announced
The organisers also declared winners across five geographical zones:
- North Zone: Adya Singh – St Stephen’s College, Delhi
- East Zone: Aman Kumar – Government Engineering College, Vaishali
- South Zone: Varshini N. N. – IIT Madras, Chennai
- West Zone: Manju Sengar – Government College, Joura, Morena
- North-East Zone: Shivam Kumar Jha – Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Senapati
State Winners From Across India
State-level winners represented a diverse range of universities and colleges:
- Assam: Yuktha Sree Kunireddy – IIT Guwahati
- Bihar: Aman Kumar – Government Engineering College, Vaishali
- Tamil Nadu: Ashish C. T. – IIT Madras
- Uttar Pradesh: Kanishk Sharma – IIT Kanpur
- Manipur: Om Kumar Jha – National Institute of Technology (NIT) Manipur
- Karnataka: Vaibhav Shekhar – National Law School of India University, Bengaluru
- Delhi: Seerat Kaur – IIT Delhi
- Telangana: V. Krishna Sai Gayatri – BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus
- West Bengal: Tanishka Bhowal – Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata
- Madhya Pradesh: Manju Sengar – Government College, Joura, Morena
- Himachal Pradesh: Modit Thakur – Institute of Hotel Management, Hamirpur
- Odisha: Badal Das – S.V.M. Autonomous College, Jagatsinghpur
Competitive Crosswords Gain Momentum
The latest results reflect the growing popularity of competitive crosswords among college students nationwide. Participants from institutions including IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, IIT Guwahati, IIT Kanpur, IIIT Senapati, Government Engineering College Vaishali and several other universities featured prominently on the leaderboards.
Organisers said the championship continues to attract talent from engineering, science, law and humanities institutions, underscoring the expanding appeal of crossword solving as a competitive academic activity.
