Patna/Guwahati: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati hosted the North East Zonal Round of the National Inter College Crossword Expedition (NICE) 2025 on Friday, drawing some of the sharpest young crossword solvers from the region.
The competition opened with a written preliminary before the top six college teams advanced to the stage round, testing their speed, wordplay and lateral thinking. Conducted by noted cruciverbalist Ochintya Sharma, the contest culminated in a tense finale that saw IIT Guwahati dominate the podium.
The top three college teams were:
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First place: Ruchira Joshi and Chinmayi Pillamarapu – IIT Guwahati
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Second place: Kamaleshwari T.S. and Rithey Mariya George – IIT Guwahati
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Third place: Kirhen Bhagayath S. and Youkta Mandavkar – IIT Guwahati
These teams will now represent the North East zone at the NICE Grand Finale in New Delhi this September, where they will compete against the country’s leading collegiate crossword players.
Alongside the inter-college contest, the Guwahati city round of the National Inter School Cryptic Crossword Contest 2025 (CCCC 13.0) was also held. The school winners were:
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First place: Krisha Jain and Prayash Kalita – Royal Global School
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Second place: Syeda Mahveen Adil and Atryee Dutta – Maria’s Public School
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Third place: Ahommyam Loy Barouah and Devartha Ranjan Kakati – Maria’s Public School
The twin events were attended by academic and institutional leaders, including Professor Parmeswar Nair from IIT Guwahati and Qamar Javed, General Manager of NABARD. Event coordination was led by Rajnarayan Singh of Extra-C.
Organisers said the contests were designed to encourage logical reasoning and language proficiency while boosting the popularity of word games and cryptic crosswords as valuable tools for cognitive development.
With the zonal rounds complete, attention now turns to New Delhi, where the best of India’s crossword talent will compete for the national title.
