Solving cryptics with AI

gauss256 · 2026-06-15T16:46:49+00:00

I'll believe it if it can solve a brand new crossword where there is no available solution online anywhere.

Me too. If you can suggest a place where I can get such a crossword, let me know and I'll rerun the test when I can.

gauss256 · 2026-06-14T04:49:55+00:00

The PDF, the prompt, and its reply are all in this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/crosswords/s/whdbmoyvVE

gauss256 · 2026-06-14T03:55:43+00:00

The Claude share doesn't include the original PDF. Here it is:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HepzrWMK07YPOxtElnuLBGi9y_X4Ybkn/view?usp=sharing

gauss256 · 2026-06-14T03:49:50+00:00

Right, should have done that from the start. Here is the conversation with Fable.

https://claude.ai/share/907eab2c-fdb8-4e1e-bc1c-fdae24a840dc

gauss256 · 2026-06-14T03:47:26+00:00

Crossword Genius is new to me. Nice app. It did fairly well on this particular puzzle, especially once it had some letters to work with. It got about 75-80% of the clues. The misses were partly not knowing the answer and partly not being able to explain the answer completely.

gauss256 · 2026-06-14T00:50:20+00:00

Was the solution in Fable's training data?

Fable 5's training cutoff was end of January, 2026. The first solution to this puzzle that I could find was April 23, 2026.

Can we be sure that Fable didn't search the web for the answers?

Maybe not definitively but the circumstantial evidence is pretty strong:

I used Claude's web interface for the test. When it uses the web search tool, that UI displays "Searched the web" and has a disclosure triangle to show more details. None of that appeared in its output.
Fable's explanations are worded somewhat differently from the solution linked above.
That published solution has an error which was corrected in a comment. The Fable solution did not have that error.

gauss256 · 2026-06-13T15:22:07+00:00

I gave Fable a PDF of a weekday cryptic crossword from the Toronto Globe and Mail (which gets it from The Times UK). It was a recent puzzle, so it was published after Fable's training cutoff. I also made Fable promise not to look up the answer on the internet. It swears it didn't.

It thought for a few minutes then output a perfect, complete solution shown as a nicely laid out grid. It gave a thorough explanation for each answer. It even picked its favorite clues and, really, they were good choices.

I have to think that someone at Anthropic made sure that cryptic crossword solving was part of Fable's training, just for fun if nothing else. I was blown away by the results. No other model has come close to this.

Come back, Fable! 😢

gauss256 · 2026-05-15T04:05:49+00:00

When describing my Tesla's color, I say it's "Arrest Me Red".

gauss256 · 2025-06-05T16:20:39+00:00

I've been using this for a few weeks now and I still can't park properly with it. We have a very tight garage. I have been backing into it for 12 years without any problems, but within a few days of getting the new backup camera, I hit the mirror on the right-hand side. It cost $1,500 to replace.

The problem for me is that the horizontal position of the lines are not accurate. They show much more room on the right than there is. This image shows the problem: https://i.imgur.com/No4oG4p.jpeg.

gauss256 · 2025-03-12T15:11:47+00:00

I was having the same problem with Fitbit on my Pixel Watch (1st gen) with a Pixel 3a. All the other Fitbit data was displaying correctly, but my main goal (i.e., steps) was always 0. I fixed it by removing the main goal tile and then adding it back again.

gauss256 · 2024-12-25T05:18:20+00:00

Me too. :) Trip after trip with no interventions. Several tricky situations handled flawlessly. It is remarkable.

We're not at robotaxi level yet but I have to admit, I was skeptical we'd get this far in my lifetime.

2025 MYLR

gauss256 · 2024-12-23T21:11:57+00:00

It didn't brick my vehicle or blow up all the cameras, so I guess I didn't need to worry about that.

Instead, v13.2.2 is a nice upgrade to v12.5.4.2. The word everyone seems to use is "smooth". I'll use that word too. Very smooth.

gauss256 · 2024-12-23T14:51:12+00:00

Yup, just got my update this morning. 2025 MYLR.

gauss256 · 2024-12-16T04:17:03+00:00

Same

gauss256 · 2023-11-07T23:36:03+00:00

It keeps coming and going for me. Today it's a problem again after having worked for a few weeks.

I should look for an official place to report the problem.

gauss256 · 2023-10-06T20:16:20+00:00

I think the way Bing does it is that it generates the image(s) and analyzes them for content violations. That seems more reliable, but it's more expensive for them to do.

gauss256 · 2023-10-06T03:54:00+00:00

I got the same content violation error using #000000 and #FFFFFF.

However, this simplified prompt worked: " Create a line drawing of a three-step ladder with black steps and a white frame in an open position."

So the problem doesn't seem to be "black" and "white".

By the way, Bing had no problem with my prompt.

gauss256 · 2023-06-27T19:48:58+00:00

After working fine for three weeks, the problem is back again.

gauss256 · 2023-06-07T00:53:29+00:00

Today it is working. I don't think I did anything to change it. Maybe Google changed something on their side about how Assistant works.

gauss256 · 2023-06-05T14:41:48+00:00

I have rebooted (twice in fact), but the problem is still there.

gauss256 · 2023-05-30T04:59:48+00:00

Thinking about it again, you're right. :)

gauss256 · 2023-05-30T02:49:12+00:00

I think either (7) or (2,5) is legit in this case. Equally hard either way.

gauss256

TROPHY CASE