BITS Pilani's VKS Gayatri Wins Final Round E of NICE 2025 National Crossword Championship

The curtain fell on the final leg of the National Inter-College Crossword Expedition (NICE) 2025 with a crescendo of intellectual fireworks. Aptly dubbed Round ‘E’, the fourth and concluding online round electrified crossword enthusiasts across the country with its fierce competition and brain-teasing brilliance.

At the heart of this high-stakes mental marathon, VKS Gayatri of BITS Pilani, Hyderabad soared to the top, clinching the coveted first place at the national level with a masterclass in speed, accuracy, and lateral thinking.

Hot on his heels was Vijval Ekbote from Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, New Delhi, who secured the second spot, showcasing sharp thinking and calm under pressure.

Rounding out the top three was Adya Singh from Patna, competing in the ‘awaiting college admission’ category. Her stellar performance earned her a national podium finish, marking her as a rising star in India’s crossword circuit.

Zonal Winners:

Based on speed and accuracy, the top scorers from each of the five zones have also emerged as the zonal winners.

East Zone Winner: Ayush Warsh (GEC, Vaishali)

West Zone Winner: Ayush Sah (ABV-IIITM, Gwalior)

North Zone Winner: Isha (JNU, New Delhi)

South Zone Winner: Ashish CT (IIT Madras)

North-East Zone Winner: Om Kumar Jha (NIT, Manipur)

State Level Winners

Delhi: Mihir Verma, JNU, New Delhi

Haryana: Aditya Shaema, ACA

Bihar: Musarrat Parveen, GEC, Vaishali

Taml Nadu: Advaith S, NIT Tiruchirapalli

Goa: Samruddhi S Salgaonkar, Goa Dental College, Goa

Punjab: Bhargav Vinayak, ACA

Assam: Shria Singh, IIT Guwahati

Madhya Pradesh: Misu Sinha, MGM Medical College, Indore

Uttar Pradesh: Kushagra Chnadra, IIT Kanpur

Gujarat: Dhara Mittal, Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar

Meghalaya: Amit Kumar Jha, North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda and Homeopathy

Jammu Kashmir: Sudeep Saurav, IIM-Jammu

Andhra Pradesh: Kamparaju Moulika, Santhiram Engineering College, Kurnool

Odisha: Subhanshu Sekhar Pany, Dhenkanal Autonomous College

Tripura: Barsha Debnath, Women's College, West Tripura

West Bengal: Harsh Raj, IIT Kharagpur

Maharashtra: Swarada S Narote, AISSMS IOIT, Pune

Chhattisgarh: Bhudhar Chouhan, Govt. Lat Shri Virendra Bhadur Singh College, Mahasamund

Karnataka: Palagiri MV Reddy, Christ University, Bangalore

The overall leaderboard will be published by aggregating the scores of all the four online rounds. Top scorers from each zone will qualify for the second stage. While the national winners of all the four online rounds have earned direct qualification for the Grand Finale round.