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"Cross purposes

Sir, I have been a lifelong aficionado of the Times crossword. However, I was concerned to note that Jenny Kenyon (letter, Jul 24) appears to be resorting to a source of reference while trying to solve the puzzle. In my book, this is cheating. For me, a crossword cannot be said to have been properly and successfully completed unless this is achieved purely from one’s own knowledge and inspiration, without reference to the dictionary, encyclopaedia, Google or — far, far worse — AI. Am I alone in this?

Nicholas Pennington
Addingham, W Yorks"

Assuming he is not writing tongue-in-cheek, I would say that he might well be alone!

Em dashes are often an AI telltale. May be he knows this and is being ironic, but I suspect not.
M - I think you should reply.

I asked ChatGPT to write a letter in response. It did quite a decent job (but note the em dashes!).

Sir,

Mr Pennington mistakes the purpose of a crossword. The satisfaction lies not in demonstrating the totality of one’s existing knowledge, but in exercising curiosity, deduction and persistence. Dictionaries and encyclopaedias have long been trusted companions of the crossword enthusiast, not because they provide answers, but because they help confirm, refine or extend one’s understanding. Few would suggest that a botanist is cheating by consulting a flora or a historian by checking an archive.

The same principle applies, with appropriate caution, to newer tools. A reference work—whether printed, digital or AI-assisted—is no substitute for the solver’s reasoning. It merely offers another means of exploring language once the intellectual work has begun.

If Mr Pennington prefers to rely solely on memory, that is an admirable personal challenge. But it should remain exactly that: a personal challenge, not the standard by which everyone else’s enjoyment is judged.

Yours faithfully,

Hounds, I thought much the same as you when I read the letter over breakfast this morning.

Jono, thanks. Your first comment was really interesting, especially the info about AI and dashes. I liked 'your' reply. AI would have done that in a fraction of the time I would have taken!

Thanks Jono - that I did not know!

I have replied but I rather doubt they will print it!

All the best

M

If indeed he is a lifelong aficionado of The Times crossword one might think he would be decrying the current standard of clueing rather than the use of reference sources. I would then agree with him on both.

Agree with the ripostes to this. I wonder if Mr Pennington actually knows every river in Africa or every Asian unit of currency, for example, or would he regard consulting an atlas as cheating? I believe that the revered Araucaria would have been comfortable with expanding his range of references to accommodate the current availability of information.

Further comment. In the good old days, solvers were clearly expected to have at least a nodding acquaintance with classical literature, a genre that excluded many potential solvers. Now, compilers are equally ready to refer to the latest Indypop band or TV soap or quiz show.
Times change.

I believe Mr. Pennington's missive was tongue-in-cheek. And that he used AI to double down on the irony. 😂

Since many barred puzzles explicitly name Chambers in their instructions, it seems unlikely that reference consultation could be considered verboten.

Ref buzzybee @8 'nodding acquaintance with classical literature'

Indeed I think 'good old days' Times cryptics had clues which simply required knowledge of an omitted word in a line of poetry or play.

There was tacit encouragement to buy the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.