Crossword editor’s desk: what would be the point of an AI puzzle? | Crosswords

The world of crosswords is generally a happy and sensible place. The human mind being what it is, though, we are not immune to entertaining ideas that are less than true.

Our equivalent of the conspiracy theory that humankind is being controlled by 5G phone masts is that puzzles are appearing that have not been created by people.

Yes: we’re talking about artificial intelligence. Some solvers reckon that they can discern, from a sideways definition or a piece of punctuation, the kind of clue only an AI would generate.

We’ve discussed here before the feeble efforts AI has so far offered when invited to create clues. But we last did so more than three years ago; I expect the efforts would be better now, but still subpar. And I expect the time will come when AI can spit out cryptic clues that are perfectly sound.

Still, though: what would be the point? When a human plays a computer at chess, the challenge is to see whether a brain can produce better strategies than a machine and get to checkmate.

In crosswords, though, there is no winner. The setter wants the puzzle to be solved. The solver wants to be entertained by the clever, amusing or devious choices a setter has made; a setter is more like a poet or a comedian than a chess player. And the idea of being entertained by code-generated witticisms and deceptions is frankly eerie.

On the topic of slyness: in July’s Genius, the message hiding in the clues is CONTAIN SAME LETTER AS TODAY’S CRYPTIC. Once you find the overlap with that day’s regular puzzle, you find the contents of the safe:

I’ll include the actual normal answer grid below, but you can see that the goodies in the notional safe are a dagger, a diamond ring and fake ID. August’s Genius awaits you!

Thanks for your clues for EDDIE. The audacity award goes to Wellywearer2 for the verse:

Do anything you wanna do
His Hot Rods might advise you
Their ‘leader’ might say as well
Losing me hurts like hell (5)

The runners-up are a pair of tributes to the real Eddie who inspired the conference, Brockwell’s late yorkshire terrier: Matty36251’s “A little Yorkie I’d delighted over” and Schroduck’s “Recalled doggie I’d definitely embrace!” And the winner is bawdy: “Elegant head, big chest, incomparable wings … the Eagle?”

Kludos to Gurkentruppe; please leave clues for EERIE below, along with any favourite clues or puzzles you have spotted.