New Delhi: Ludhiana’s BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School on Friday retained its national title at the 13th edition of the CCCC Cryptic Crossword Contest, held at YMCA Delhi. The team of Anhad Kaur and Divya Dhiman, who arrived at the competition as defending champions, once again lifted the National Crossword Champion trophy after a tightly contested two-day finale.
The runners-up were Sudhanshu Nayak and Shubhi Srivastava from Darbhanga Public School, while Anjali Nanduri and Aradhya Ranjith from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Public School (Vidyashram), Hyderabad, secured third place.
The Grand Finale featured a demanding format, starting with a preliminary written round involving 40 two-member teams shortlisted through two online stages held between July and September. The top 15 scorers advanced to five onstage quarter-finals on Thursday, followed by two semi-finals and a final on Friday.
Three other teams reached the semi-finals: Nanya Dev Singh and Tanmay Kashyap of DPS Patna; Daksh and Anvay of DPS Pune; and Kashvi of Mount Assissi School, Bhagalpur, who competed solo after her teammate was unable to reach the venue.
The competition was conducted by Sir Alan Cowell, English teacher at Don Bosco, Patna, who served as the CrossMaster. Delhi-based cruciverbalist Vinayak Ekbote officiated as Chief Arbiter.
Trophies and certificates were presented by a panel of senior dignitaries, including S. Krishnan, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and IT; Kundan Kumar, IAS, Resident Commissioner, Bihar Bhavan; Vivek Kumar Singh, IAS, Chairman, RERA Bihar; Aloke Michiyari, Vice-President, YMCA; Madhup Tiwari, IPS, Special Commissioner of Police, Delhi; and Raj Narayan Singh, National Coordinator of CCCC 2025.
The opening day was attended by high-profile guests such as Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, IAS; Jitendra Srivastava, IAS, CMD of REC Ltd; Gyaneshwar Kumar Singh, DG and CEO of the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs; Amitav Sinha, Director-General of Income Tax; and Sharat Sinha, IPS, among others.
The championship, now in its 13th year, continues to be one of India’s most anticipated inter-school intellectual competitions, promoting analytical thinking, language skills and collaborative problem-solving among students nationwide.
