Patna: Matthew Marcus from Portland, USA, emerged as the winner of Round 6 of the 13th edition of the Indian Crossword League (IXL), completing the grid in 10 minutes and 55 seconds. Erik Agard from Kansas City secured the second position with a timing of 12 minutes and 54 seconds.
Former IXL champion Mohsin Ahmed from Bangalore clinched third place, finishing in 18 minutes and 22 seconds. He was followed by Madhusudan H and Ramki Krishnan from Chennai, and Sohil Bhagat from Bangalore.
After six rounds, Erik, Matthew and Ramki continue to dominate the cumulative leaderboard, holding the top three spots with 597, 596 and 584 points respectively. Sowmya Ramkumar from Manama stands at sixth place, making it three overseas contestants in the top 10. Defending champion Sashwat Salgaonkar from Panaji and former winner Venkataraghavan S. from Mumbai also feature among the leading contenders.
The seventh of ten online rounds will commence at 11 am IST on Sunday.
The IXL follows a hybrid online-offline format comprising ten digital rounds and an on-ground Grand Finale in Bengaluru. A new crossword grid is published weekly on crypticsingh.com every Sunday at 11 am IST, with submissions closing by 11:59 pm on Wednesday. Participants are evaluated on both accuracy and speed.
Following the online stage, the top 30 solvers qualify for the Bengaluru finale, where they compete for the coveted National Crossword Champion trophy. Registration remains open throughout the season, and each round’s topper earns an automatic spot in the finale regardless of their overall standing.
