India, April 22 -- Playing solo, Dhairya Pandey of Don Bosco Academy, Patna, on Sunday clinched the top national ranking at the end of the second online round in Phase I of the national inter-school CCCC Cryptic Crossword Contest 2026. The team from DPS Patna, comprising NanyaDev Singh and Hemang Chandra took the 2nd position. The 3rd rank went to the team of Avani Fiske and Mudraa Paidarkar of SES Gurukul, Pune.

The 14th edition of this annual contest, known popularly as CCCC, is being hosted on www.crypticsingh.com. The last remaining online round in Phase I will be played on April 26. Participants have the option of representing their schools as a two-member team or solo, according to a Press release.

The 2026 edition of this champio...