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Interesting.

There was a recent enquiry in the forum as to the parsing of: A1 jam spoken of is what breakfast TV presenters need? being ARTICLE.

Various solving websites which seem to exist - wordplays, acrossndown, oneacross - all list the answer, but with no explanation - because of course the correct answer is not ARTICLE but AUTOCUE.

The previous suggestion that it's a combination of word-finding software with an algorithmic AI seems likely - with either several different software versions coming up with the same erroneous output, or there being a search engine built in to look for other uploaded solutions.

I thought that a lot of the crossword answers on danword were there because those clues had been set in previous crosswords.....but that can't be true for all Telegraph, Guardian , FT puzzles surely?

Anyway ..."sometimes" danword is incorrect so i wouldn't rely on it!

I've been told that Danword probably accesses the solution files from the puzzles websites of the newspapers. Even though the solutions are not available, the files are on the sites. There won't be a team of solvers and there is no AI involved in solving the clues.

I write a jumbo 25x25 crossword for the Herald called The Clootie each month, which is a prize puzzle. The moment it is published, the answers can be found on Danword; these puzzles are always themed on something linked to Scotland and can include very specific anagram clues of the form eg *BAN JUMPS HERE, which isn't in standard cryptic format. Yet, all of these answers are always availble — it simply accesses the solution file.

Further to this, to check it wasn't AI, I just did a simple test. I input a clue from today's Sunday Telegraph (a cryptic def clue), which produced the answer straight away. I then put in a straight easy hidden word clue from today's EV for which it couldn't find an answer.

Why? Barred crosswords do not have solution files, as such, with answers to individual clues — they have a solution grid only; standard blocked cryptics provide answers to each clue.

That's much what I'd suspected, External. I tried few clues which were easy but nonsensical, such as "Trite seller band for relatively wealthy area (11,4)" as an alternative to the STOCKBROKER BELT I quoted earlier, and Danword couldn't "solve" it.

Although I have no interest in Danword other than that piqued by this discussion, I can see how exasperating the site must be for crossword editors who offer prize puzzles. I'm aware there are those who disapprove of Crossword Solver Forum, but I believe the gentle nudges offered here encourage solvers to persevere and improve, which is a world apart from mechanically publishing answers without explanation.

Obtaining information from crossword sites that's not intended for public view is morally questionable, certainly, but is it not also illegal?

A bunch of crossword enthusiasts helping each other out is very far removed from a mercenary opportunist taking information which should be secure and publishing it for financial gain. It's probably someone who has spotted a money-making opportunity from website weaknesses and they obviously have no interest in crosswords, otherwise the prize-puzzle clues wouldn't be available.

Whether it is illegal or not, I couldn't tell you.

I'm certain there is no AI involved. For the clues without an official solution available I suspect an obsessive solver who just jumps on the puzzles and solves them. Many daily crosswords are published at midnight so having solutions early the same day isn't necessarily super-human. There's lots of competition but there's a bit of a financial reward for being early from advertising.

I looked at the history of the site on the internet archive. 20 years ago it does appear to have been owned by Danword the translators but with just a holding page talking about translating from English to Danish (in Danish). Then the domain name seems to have expired and in 2015 the current danword site appeared and has been completely unchanged since then.

I agree there's no AI involved, but I find it hard to imagine obsessive solvers staying up until midnight to post the solutions. I've just looked at DW with my nuisance content blockers turned off and yes, there are a couple of ads - but would the revenue from that really motivate people to stay up half the night? One day, when I can't sleep, I'll test this. I'll wait for a prize puzzle to appear then see how quickly the solutions appear on Danword.

You may be right, but I tend to agree with External's view that these people somehow get access to the solution files. I don't know how or even if that's possible, but if they were super-solvers you'd expect them to say so and claim the credit, I'd have thought?

Yeah, but no, but...

Have a look at the text below, from crosswordgenius.com, using as a test substrate the example from some months back.

Not only does the program explicitly state that it's AI, it shows its working, incomplete or otherwise.

Possibly not the most important thing in the world to get to the bottom of, but it probably *isn't* a highly industrialised and commercialised version of us.

------------------------------------

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.

In dire straits after reputation collapsed, a first for relatively wealthy area (11,4)


I believe the answer is:

STOCKBROKER BELT

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'wealthy area' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'in dire straits after reputation collapsed a first for relatively' is the wordplay.

I cannot really understand how this works, but 'collapsed' could be 'broke' (breaking is a kind of collapsing) and 'broke' is found within the answer.

'for' could be 'to' (eg both can mean 'in the opinion of') and 'to' is located in the answer.

This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for stockbroker belt that I've seen before include "part of Surrey?", "Wealthy neighbourhood", "wealthy area", "area where the rich live", "Suburbia".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

Here’s an article from the developer which explains the intent behind crossword genius…
https://unlikely.ai/cryptic-crossword-genius-unlikely-ai-artificial-intelligence-ross/

This may also be of interest…
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/crossword-solving-ai