CCCC 13.0 Takes Off with DPS Patna at the Helm, Nanya Dev and Tanmay Kashyap Emerge as National Winners

The Practice Round of the 13th edition of the National Inter School Cryptic Crossword Contest (CCCC 13.0) was successfully conducted on Sunday, 27th July 2025. The non-scoring round, exclusively organized for registered participants, aimed to familiarize them with the structure and rules of the upcoming online rounds under Stage I of the contest.

Despite being a trial round, the enthusiastic participation from across the country highlighted the immense popularity and academic relevance of CCCC. The round saw hundreds of school students from Class VII to XII team up to test their cryptic crossword-solving skills in a simulated competition environment.

National Winners

• Rank 1: Nanya Dev Singh and Tanmay Kashyap – Delhi Public School, Patna

• Rank 2: Anhad Kaur and Divya Dhiman – BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Ludhiana

• Rank 3: Sahil Sandeep Sabne and Raaghav S Kanegaonkar – SES Gurukul, Pune

In addition, winners were declared from various states for their outstanding performance:

State Winners

• Bihar: Dhairya Pandey – Don Bosco Academy, Patna

• Delhi: Aayushi Negi and Adya Malik – The Mother’s International School, New Delhi

• Telangana: Arnav Gupta and Shashank Gowda – Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan's Public School

• Maharashtra: Shravya Bharath and Sanavi P Zaware – Delhi Public School, Pune

• Andhra Pradesh: Chetan and Mayukh – Nalanda Vidya Niketan, Krishna

• West Bengal: Soumyajit Ghosh – Vision International School, Hooghly

What’s Next: Stage I – Online Rounds

The scoring rounds of Stage I will be held as follows:

• Round 1: August 3, 2025

• Round 2: August 10, 2025

• Round 3: August 17, 2025

On each date, crossword grids will go live at 2:00 PM IST, and teams will have three hours to submit their solutions. Accuracy and speed will determine rankings on a cumulative leaderboard. Top 100 teams after Round 3 and the top 20 teams of each round will qualify for Stage II.

Subsequent Stages

Stage II: Regional Rounds (Online/Offline)

Stage III: National Grand Finale to be held offline in New Delhi (dates to be announced)

Participation & Registration

Open to students of Classes VII–XII from any recognized school in India. Participation is completely free. Registration is ongoing at www.crypticsingh.com

About CCCC

Launched in 2013 by civil society initiative Extra-C, CCCC has become one of India’s largest school-level intellectual engagements. With its unique focus on cryptic crosswords, the contest nurtures lateral thinking, linguistic creativity, and collaborative problem-solving. It continues to inspire students from metropolitan cities to remote rural belts, creating an inclusive and dynamic platform for cognitive excellence.