Could this be a Deep Blue moment for the cryptic crossword?
Summary
A new computer program called Darmok has solved the final puzzle of the Times’s annual cryptic crossword competition faster than the youngest human winner. Darmok, built using advanced AI models, demonstrates significant progress in understanding and solving complex word puzzles that involve puns, wordplay, and visual clues.Key Facts
- Darmok solved the Times’s cryptic crossword final puzzle about three minutes faster than Liam Hughes, the youngest human winner.
- Cryptic crosswords are hard because they use wordplay, puns, and tricky clues that are different from regular crosswords.
- The AI earlier struggled but improved thanks to combining several advanced models, including Gemini 3.1 Pro, Claude Fable 5, GPT-5, and GPT-6 Astra.
- Darmok’s creator is Dr. Sid Chatterjee, a computer scientist at the University of Texas in Austin.
- Darmok solves clues by interpreting both the language and visual hints, such as changing letters by removing parts of them.
- Prior AI programs like WebCrow and Dr Fill succeeded with standard American crosswords but not cryptic crosswords until now.
- The next challenge is for AI to create cryptic crosswords, which is a much tougher task than solving them.
- Dr. Chatterjee compares beating cryptic crosswords to climbing Mount Everest, while creating them is like the even larger Olympus Mons challenge (the biggest volcano in the solar system).
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