Erik Agard, editor with The USA Today and Neville Fogarty of The New Yorker have flexed their muscles in second round of Global Indian Crossword league (IXL) 2022, organized by Patna based organization Extra-C.
The final round will be held in an offline mode at Bangalore on December 25, 2022.
IXL is yet another competitive platform for crosswords primarily meant for mature enthusiasts of the mind game across the globe. It is conducted by Extra-C and has been to Toronto and New Jersey as well, said patron of Extra-C Vivek Singh.
“Eric Agard, an editor with the USA Today has topped the Leader board for round 2 and is being followed by Indian contestants Ramki Krishnan and Abhay Phadnis, both from Chennai. Sowmya Ramkumar from Bahrain is at number four position.
“Eric Agard had won the 2018 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. He is also celebrated for making crossword inclusive and diverse and a Jeopardy crown is also to his credit”, said Chief Operating Officer of Extra-C, Amitabh Ranjan.
The motto of Extra-C is ‘Exhorting Excellence in Extra-Curricular’. Extra-C (Cryptic Crossword Contest) was born on June 26’ 2013 and since then it has gone global and become a byword for quality crossword contests. “The focus of Extra-C has been to promote crosswords as a learning tool among the young and the adult”, said Mr Ranjan.
Similarly Neville Fogarty who is a crossword constructor with The New Yorker and is playing from Newport News is among top overseas solvers. There are 15 overseas players from across the world, Mr Ranjan said. Another notable name is Philip Coote from Canberra who in the previous edition of IXL had given a run for their fame to the game’s veterans. The other top contestants are from Los Altos city in California), London, Dubai, San Francisco, Australia, Thailand and other places.
“There will be eight more weekly rounds of IXL 2022 before the top 30 contestants on the basis of their cumulative scores will be called for an offline Bangalore Grand Finale which is scheduled on December 25’ 2022”, said Vivek Singh, patron of the Extra-C organization. Mr Singh is also a senior IAS officer of Bihar and is currently Development Commissioner of the state. A contestant can enter the contest at any stage of the League hosted on www.crypticsingh.come, he added.
