Indian Crossword League gets underway, goes global

New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI) Seeking to infuse love for wordsamong people, especially students, in the age of video games,the fourth edition of the Indian Crossword League (IXL) wastoday launched here. This year, it will include as contestants the country’sdiaspora in five cities abroad. The grand finale of thecontest, which will involve a combination of online andoffline crossword puzzle-solving competitions, will be held inBengaluru in December. "There will be 10 online rounds following which a leaderboard would be generated. Top 20 contestants from that listwould qualify for the final showdown where top six teams afteran on-the-spot written round will square off for the IXLtrophy. "Also, a contestant each from London, Toronto, Sydney,Dubai and New Jersey in the US would fly into India toparticipate in the finals," IXL founder Vivek Kumar Singhsaid. The launch took place in the presence of several eminentpersonalities at the Civil Services Officers’ Institute (CSOI)in Chanakyapuri area. The IXL trophy was also unveiled on theoccasion by Nasscom President R Chandrasekhar. "Crosswords are not just about wordplay and cryptic clues.I see them as great stress busters and a tool to help grow ourincisive reasoning. So, if you see a sweating man at anairport or a shouting person stuck in a traffic jam, chancesare he or she is not a crossword solver," Chandrasekhar said. Singh, also a senior bureaucrat in Bihar, said the IXL wasfounded in 1913 to mark 100 years of crosswords and to paytribute to Arthur Wynne, who is credited with publishing thefirst crossword in ‘New York World’ newspaper. "Last year, we added Toronto and New Jersey to the conteston an experimental basis. We got a positive response from thediaspora. So this is also the official global launch of thecompetition," he added. Gopa Sabharwal, Vice Chancellor of Nalanda University,said, "It was heartening to see crossword being celebrated bypeople of all ages. Though technology may have changed ourlives in many ways, it has not yet heralded the death ofcrosswords." Col (retd) Deepak Gopinath, winner of the inauguraledition, said, "A contest like this throws up so manysurprises. The second postion was bagged by a person fromISRO. His was 21, while I was 61." The first CSOI Crossword Challenge was also launched onthe occasion. PTI KND GVS RGGVS