Two more rounds of Phase I are on April 19 and 26; students can still register at crypticsingh.com.
Patna
April 13
Anjali Nanduri and Aaradhya Ranjit of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Public School, Vidyaashram, Hyderabad, secured first place nationally in the first online round of Phase I of the National Inter-School CCCC Cryptic Crossword Competition 2026 on Sunday.
Dhairya Pandey, a solo participant from Don Bosco Academy, Patna, secured second place in the national rankings, while Avani Atul Aslekar, a solo participant from Bharat English School & Junior College, Pune, secured third place.
The 14th edition of this annual competition is being held on www.crypticsingh.com. The remaining two online rounds of this phase will be held on April 19 and 26. Participants can represent their school as a two-member team or individually.
The current edition of the national championship is supported by the Rural Electrification Corporation, a Maharatna public sector undertaking leading the development of India’s energy sector.
In the state-level merit list, solo participant Anjali Mishra from S.S. International Public School, Darbhanga, secured first place in Bihar. Sahil Sandeep Sab from Suryadatta National School, Pune, topped Maharashtra, while Anhad Kaur and Divya Dhiman, representing BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Ludhiana, secured first place in Punjab. Other prominent state toppers include Diva Pandey and Aditi Matta from DPS Bhopal for Madhya Pradesh, Soumyajit Ghosh from Vision International School for West Bengal, and Depjit Boreik from Lengri Tea Estate Model School, Karbi Anglong, Assam.
The team of Nanya Dev Singh and Hemang Chandra from DPS Patna topped the Patna city competition. Other city toppers include Kaushiki Bhatt and Sai Jadhav from SES Gurukul, Pune; Chodrupa J. and Vinvita P. from Vidyashram, Ranga Reddy; Lalit Singh and Suryansh S. Singh from DAV Public School, Dehradun; Gopal Kumar and Aman Kumar from Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Residential School, Bharra, Begusarai; and Kashvi Rajput from SKP Vidya Vihar, Bhagalpur.
The world’s largest school crossword competition, CCCC, is held in an online-offline format. Selected teams and participants from Phase I will advance to the online, face-to-face rounds of Phase II. Those who clear this stage will be invited to the offline Grand Finale, held in the national capital at the end of the year, where they will compete for the National Crossword Champion trophy.
The full list of winners from the first online round is available at www.crypticsingh.com.