6 days ago
Puzzle setters can sleep easy after this AI gibberish
'H as The Times moved to AI for sudoku and codeword setting?' asks Tania Wilson, who feels that some of our puzzles have been getting easier (you may disagree!). Variations of this question are becoming increasingly common as dissatisfied solvers are quick to assume the hidden hand of machine learning. I've even been asked whether our crosswords are AI-generated.
Most of our logic and number puzzles, and some word puzzles, are computer-generated or assisted but this long predates AI. As for crosswords, I imagine you could set a large language model to create concise clues but it will be a while before they can match the inventiveness and creativity of our concise puzzles and their hidden themes.
Cryptic crosswords are something else altogether. When I tried some cryptic clues out on ChatGPT last year it performed woefully. One reader emailed to suggest Google's AI, Gemini, had a better grasp of crosswords so I put it through its paces this week with a Quick Cryptic.
