Patna: Matthew Marcus of the United States emerged victorious in the ninth round of the 13th edition of the Indian Crossword League (IXL), turning in a rapid time of 36 minutes 57 seconds to claim the penultimate title in what competitors described as the event’s toughest grid to date.
Philip Coote of Australia finished second in 44:11, while India’s Ramki Krishnan was third in 52:40. Marcus, who had completed the previous round in 6:50, maintained his form to take top honours in Sunday’s online test. Jose A from Thane, Mohsin Ahmed of Bangalore and Erik Agard of the US followed in the next three positions.
In the cumulative standings after nine rounds, Marcus leads the table on 896 points, followed by Erik Agard on 890 and Ramki Krishnan on 875. The top ten also include international entrants — with Sowmya Ramkumar from Manama sitting at sixth — underlining the increasingly global profile of the competition. Reigning champion Sashwat Salgaonkar of Panaji and former winner Venkataraghavan S. of Mumbai remain inside the overall top 10.
The final online round of the IXL’s ten-round Online Stage is scheduled to begin at 11:00 hrs IST on Sunday, November 16. The league follows an online–offline format: ten timed online rounds determine cumulative rankings, and the top 30 scorers are invited to Bengaluru for an offline grand finale, where the National Crossword Champion trophy is awarded.
A fresh grid of clues is uploaded each Sunday at 11:00 hrs on the IXL website, with submissions accepted until 23:59 hrs on the following Wednesday. Contestants earn points for both correctness and speed; a round topper earns automatic entry to vie for the trophy irrespective of their final cumulative position, and newcomers may register at any stage during the contest.
