Devious humour and painful puns: will the cryptic crossword remain the last thing AI can’t conquer?

When human solvers battle artificial intelligence, who is able to think more cryptically, faster? And are some devious clues just too tough for software?

The Times hosts an annual crossword-solving competition and it remains, until such time as the Guardian has its own version, the gold standard.

This year’s competitors included a dog. Rather, an AI represented as a jolly coffee-drinking dog named Ross (a name hidden in “crossword”), and who is embedded on the Crossword Genius smartphone app.

1ac MP ousted by Liberal, absolutely without authority (9)

13d Radical overhaul of motorsport’s image (9)