Ramki Krishnan of Chennai wins Indian Crossword League trophy for record 7th time

Earlier in 2016, Mr. Krishnan had scored hat-trick at the grand finale of the league. The IXL, started in 2013 marked its 10th edition this year

Ramki Krishnan of Chennai on December 25 won the India Crossword League (IXL)’ 2022 National Champion Crossword trophy for record 7 th time in Bengaluru in a tie match between three top scorers.

Earlier in 2016, Mr. Krishnan had scored hat-trick at the grand finale of the league. The IXL, started in 2013 marked its 10 th edition this year.

The final held at a hotel in Bengaluru on December 25 ended on a three-way tie with equal score by Shahshwat Salgaonkar of Goa, Ramki Krishnan of Chennai and Raj Jayaram of Bengaluru respectively.

Also read: Erik Agard of USA Today, Neville Fogarty of The New Yorker flex muscle in Indian online crossword contest

“Finally in a tough-nut tie- breaker Ramki Krishnan of Chennai won the trophy for record 7 th time”, chief mentor of IXL and senior IAS officer of Bihar Vivek Kumar Singh told The Hindu. “IXL is a two-stage contest where top cruciverbalists of the world fight it for the championship. The first stage is an online round and after 10such rounds held every week, the top 30 are invited to the finals held offline”, added Mr Singh. Extra-C, a Patna based civil society organizes IXL every year.

This year the contest saw some famous names from the world of crosswords. Eric Agard, an editor with USAToday and Neville Fogarty, a crossword constructor with the New Yorker added a competitive edge to the league in 2022.