Fifteen school teams from across India on Thursday qualified for the quarter- finals on day one of the two-day Grand Finale of the national inter-school CCCC Cryptic Crossword Contest 2025. On Friday, the event will witness three semi- finals and a final showdown between the three top teams to claim the National Crossword Champion trophy. The Grand Finale of this prestigious annual championship is being held at YMCA Delhi.
As many as 40 teams along with their mentor teachers converged on the national capital from schools across the country on Thursday. After a written preliminary round where each of the two-member teams had to solve a grid of 24 puzzles and an onstage Extra-C Round of cryptic clues with the theme ‘India’, The teams invited to the Grand Finale were selected after two gruelling online stages held between July and September.
The event was inaugurated by prominent bureaucrats led by Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh; Director-General of Income-Tax, Ministry of Finance Amitav Sinha; CMD REC Ltd Jitendra Srivastava; DG and CEO Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs Gyaneshwar Kumar Singh; Delhi Police Additional CP Sharat Sinha and Chairman, RERA, Government of Bihar Vivek Kumar Singh.
Speaking to the audience, they praised the efforts of Extra-C, the civil society initiative and the organisers of the contest, for creating a competitive platform for crosswords for school students for promoting learning with fun.
In their addresses, they said crosswords do not only hone cognitive skills but also provide a bulwark against ailments like dementia and Alzheimer’s. Earlier, the dignitaries unveiled the National Crossword Champion Trophy 2025 and the CCCC 2025 T-shirt. They also released the event’s souvenir and diary.