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Can artificial intelligence solve our fiendish cryptic crossword?

is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more

10 June 2020

Âé¶¹´«Ã½. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Josie Ford

Crossword compiler

A few weeks ago, Feedback ran a letter from a reader that raised serious doubts as to the solvability of the Âé¶¹´«Ã½ cryptic crossword. Taking our duty of care seriously, and being at the same time incapable of distinguishing a cryptic crossword clue from the subject line of a spam email, we decided to consult an expert.

Crossword Genius is a remarkably impressive app that uses an AI to parse cryptic crossword clues and offer potential solutions. Letting it loose on a puzzle by regular Âé¶¹´«Ã½ setter Wingding proved to be a stimulating experience.

“Family becomes ilk,” it said at one point,…

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