15 Mar 2026
I’m not entirely sure why, but our puzzles postbag this week seems to be full of missives on a common theme. Disappointingly, you’re not joining my campaign for the reappearance of the flag-waving Sue Doku (no relation to Manchester City midfielder Jérémy Doku), but instead asking if our puzzles are now set by AI. The answer to which is a resounding “no”.
Without wanting to incur the wrath of our generative chatbot overlords, there’s a simple reason for this: they just aren’t up to the job. Whether it’s solving or compiling puzzles, the end result is as embarrassing as a Tottenham Hotspur performance on the pitch. Yes, the football references are coming thick and fast this week – which is fitting, as AI is thick (although admittedly fast) when it comes to tackling our puzzles.
As a reference point, I asked one of our AI masters to solve the simple cryptic clue: Problem children (5). The AI response appeared within a second: MINESTRONE. Not only does this bear no relation to the clue (real answer ISSUE), but unless I’m losing the plot, it contains a few more than five letters.
Putting this chatbot incompetence to one side, puzzles such as Sudoku may one day be generated and published by AI. But of the many puzzles which just need a human touch – crosswords, Sorted, PlusWord, The 1% Club, and more – it will never happen. At least not on my watch.
Saying this means I may well be first up against the wall when the AIs enslave us all, but I don’t care. Humans rule. At least for now. Happy solving.
Clue of the week
Shot dispensed from large barrel in dive? (10)
Answer at the bottom of the newsletter
Puzzle of the week
The 1% Club, No. 35
One puzzle that certainly requires intelligence of the non-artificial kind is the latest addition to the Telegraph Puzzles roster, The 1% Club.
Based on the hit game show, each day we provide five increasingly difficult questions to help you level up your logic. While there isn’t a 1% question every day, you will always find one in Sunday’s puzzle.
Play ➤
Two-minute teaser
No. 230, Rowan club
Which of the following would not be of interest to Rowan Atkinson?
– One of 206 in the human skeleton
– Some twine
– A renal organ
– Peru’s capital
– A wobbly children’s favourite
– Usain Bolt, e.g.
Last week’s solution
92021. It is the numbers 9, 10, 11 etc written out in sets of five digits.
Tips and tricks
Cryptic definitions
One of the most popular types of clue in our Cryptic Crosswords is the cryptic definition. They are often a great way into a puzzle, and very accessible even if you don’t “get” cryptic clues, as each one is really just a joke or pun which relies on language to mislead. For example:
You may wind up eating it (9)
As is the case with all cryptic definitions, there is more going on than meets the eye. The solution requires some lateral thought, as the answer is a food that one may need to wind up on one’s fork or spoon in order to eat: SPAGHETTI. If you are groaning having read that, then that’s not surprising. Here’s another:
Left group? (6,5)
Baffled? You might think the answer is something to do with having departed from a gathering. If so, the compiler has done their job very well, as the answer is actually LABOUR PARTY, which is a group to the left. Here’s one more:
What a busy doctor’s visitor may have to be? (7)
The answer is PATIENT – which is both a noun that describes a doctor’s visitor, and an adjective, indicated by the fact that a busy doctor may have a long queue of patients waiting outside the surgery door.
Other puzzles for you
Numbers | Sudoku 7,254
Monday March 9
When it comes to number puzzles, nothing beats the classic Sudoku. Here’s a satisfying solve from the start of the week.
Play ➤
Words | Panagram 1,052
Wednesday March 11
Are you methodical when tackling Panagrams, or do you take a more impulsive approach? This puzzle may suit the latter.
Play ➤
Knowledge | Sorted 559
Saturday March 14
Arrange Peters by height, Queen albums by date and King Henrys by reign. That’s today’s source of fun well and truly Sorted.
Play ➤
The answer to the Clue of the Week is:
CANNONBALL
(Double definition)
Chris Lancaster, Puzzles Editor
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