Patna: The 2025 edition of the National Inter-College Crossword Expedition (NICE) has concluded its online rounds with a stunning display of linguistic brilliance. Leading the leaderboard is Adya Singh from Patna, who claimed All India Rank 1 (AIR-1), securing her place in the Grand Finale — even before starting college.
Joining her at the top are Bhargav Vinayak (AIR-2), also yet to begin college, and Harsh Raj (AIR-3) from IIT Kharagpur. These top three scorers have bypassed the Zonal Finals and advanced directly to the Grand Finale, thanks to their exceptional performances across four rigorous rounds — “N”, “I”, “C”, and “E”.
Zonal Toppers Announced
Each of the five regions has crowned its own crossword champion, showcasing the geographical spread of talent:
• East Zone: Ayush Warsh, Government Engineering College, Vaishali
• West Zone: Samruddhi Salgaonkar, Goa Dental College, Goa
• North Zone: Aditya Sharma, ACA
• South Zone: Ashish CT, IIT Madras
• North-East Zone: Mridul, IIT Guwahati
Along with the zonal champions, the top 50 participants from each zone—based on their cumulative online scores—have also qualified for the Zonal Finals. These contests will determine who else will advance to the national Grand Finale.
State Toppers Recognised
Adding a sense of regional pride, the highest scorers from individual states have also been recognised. Some of the state toppers include:
• Bihar: Musarrat Parveen, Government Engineering College, Vaishali
• Tamil Nadu: Hersh Aditya Samdanut, IIT Madras
• Delhi: Vijval Ekbote, IIIT Delhi
• Telangana: V Krishna Sai Gayatri, BITS Pilani Hyderabad
• Assam: Om Nitin Ahir, IIT Guwahati
• Uttar Pradesh: Kushagra Chandra, IIT Kanpur
• Gujarat: Maitri Vijaybhai Thummar, Dr. S. & S. S. G.G. Engineering College, Surat
• Maharashtra: Swarada Satling Narote, AISSMS IOIT, Pune
• West Bengal: Arijit Chakraborti, Academy of Technology
• Karnataka: Palagiri Mani Vardhan Reddy, Christ University, Bangalore
The complete list of qualifiers and individual scores is now available on the contest’s official website.
NICE 2025 has once again affirmed the growing popularity of word games and the sharp intellect of young Indian minds — proving that crosswords are more than just puzzles; they’re a national pursuit of excellence.
