The Times organizes a yearly crossword-solving competition, which will continue until the Guardian establishes its own high standard.
This year’s participants included dogs. Among them was Ross, a cheerful coffee-drinking dog depicted in the Crossword Genius smartphone app.
Human contestants at the event, held in London near the Shard at the Times’ parent company News UK, were remarkably quick, swiftly filling in clues before moving on. Can AI outsmart us humans?
For now, humans still have the upper hand. Ross “surrendered” when Mark Goodliffe, the reigning champion, signaled the end of the battle.
This was an unexpected turn of events. Ross must have figured it out…
1ac Completely disenfranchised MPs expelled by the Liberal Party (9)
… Replace MP in IMPLICITLY (a synonym for “absolutely” in the clue) with L ILLICITLY (“without authority”) in the solution. Some human contestants were still debating between adjective, adverb, or MP for the answer. Ross seems to “know” almost everything.
But here’s where Ross is stumped.
13th A fundamental review of motorsports image (9)
Radicals are sometimes portrayed as FIREBRAND, or as setters might say, F1 RE-BRAND. This clue stands out from the rest, almost like a joke. It’s a human touch that AI struggles with. The question remains, “Have we seen this before?”
This was a unique clue from the Times. It’s interesting how AI humorously confronted Paul, asking, “Picnicker, does that sound like art thieves?”
For now, that human connection from setters acknowledging, “Yes, I’ve been there,” is something we as humans need to appreciate.
Instead of identifying objects, online security could focus on deciphering cryptic clues with clever wordplay. Guardian setters are ready.
(Full disclosure: I was involved in testing some of the puzzles with an earlier version of Ross. I developed a fondness for Ross and was curious if clues allowed for multiple interpretations. Sometimes we use “he” for confirmation.)
Thank you to all the contributors at the clue conference for STOKES. The runner up had a clever clue involving “Runs!” leading to the England captain. The winning clue creatively used “Loads Tinder, fingers right Swipe to.”
Kudos to Danat. Share your entries below for the next challenge: How do you clue PUNNY?
Source: www.theguardian.com
