With cities across the country making a determined fight-back in the face of COVID-19 and the resulting lockdown, it was time to celebrate the indomitable human spirit. To mark a determined progress on the way to normalcy and pay tribute to the resilience of the human mind, an online crossword challenge was organised on June 13, 2021 at Patna.
The contest was divided into two categories — Student Category and Open Category. The event was conducted by Extra-C, a civil society initiative based in Patna.
Chief Operating Officer of Extra-C Amitabh Ranjan said the contest was hosted for an hour on the website www.crypticsingh.com and student category allowed students from schools and institutes of higher education to participate while the Open Category with a higher level of difficulty was opened to seniors.
Ramki Krishnan stood first in the Open Category and Aditya Vasu topped the Student Category. Col Deepak Gopinath (retd) took the first position among senior players in the Open Category. Madhup Tiwari and Shahswat Salgaokar took the second and the third positions, respectively, in the Open Category. N Rengaswamy and Rahmat Ali stood second and third respectively among ACAD Senior contestants.
Christened ExACT (Extra-C Anniversary Crossword Test), the contest was held to mark the collective fight against COVID-19 and herald a movement towards normalcy post-lockdown. The event also marked the eighth anniversary of Extra-C, a civil society initiative at the forefront of providing learning-based fun activities.
Ranjan said many central and State school boards have collaborated with the organisation for promoting the mind game in schools affiliated to them.
Extra-C has an understanding with Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) and Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) for conducting crossword skill enhancing events among their students. Schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan too have been part of the events organised by Extra-C.