Journalism of Courage
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After four months of cryptic clue-breaking, India’s first-ever crossword contest for college students wrapped up on Tuesday with a gripping grand finale. The National Inter-College Crossword Expedition (NICE 2022) crowned IIT Delhi as its final champion, with teams from IIM Kozhikode and Bengaluru’s Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College and Research Institute (SABVMCRI) becoming the first and second runners-up respectively.
Held at the AICTE auditorium in Delhi’s Vasant Kunj, the national finals saw 16 college teams solving cryptic crossword puzzles through four stages—a prelims, qualifiers, a semi-final and the grand finale. While classic crosswords ask you to fill boxes in a grid based on straightforward clues, cryptic crosswords are much more difficult. In cryptics, each clue is a word puzzle in itself, which must be deciphered to find the answer. Solving them in limited time demands skill in vocabulary and lateral thinking, making NICE 2022 a true battle of the brains. You can watch the live stream of the finals match here:
In earlier stages of the contest, IIT Delhi’s team had won the North zonals, while the SABVMCRI team had topped the South zonals. The grand finale was anyone’s game, with the final tally landing up at 180 points for IIT-D, 160 points for IIM Kozhikode and 120 points for SABVMCRI.
Jointly organised by the AICTE and the UGC with Extra-C, a Patna body known for running pan-India crossword contests, NICE was held as part of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations this year. The finale was conducted by cross-master and teacher Alan Cowell along with Ramki Krishnan, who is five-time winner of the Cryptic Singh Indian Crossword League.
With a bumper turnout in its debut edition, it is likely that NICE 2022 will become a regular event on India’s education calendar.
