A computer program has finally outdone humans at solving cryptic crosswords. Plus, more from around the puzzleverse

The Oct. 24 Weekender is a collaboration between David Karp and Aidan Brand, both of Victoria. It’s Aidan’s first for us, and David’s fourth. Some thoughts on the lovely clues/entries here:

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. The Telegraph has just launched Mini Cryptic, a blend of cryptic and quick clues perfect for new and more experienced solvers. So, is it time for you to finally learn how to decode our ...

It sits right at the front, and the answer is simply another way of saying it. Think of a short phrase someone might use when they accept an outcome and move on. The wordplay is everything after the full stop.

Cryptic crossword No 30,142

“There are crossword puzzles and crossword puzzles,” Stephen Sondheim wrote in 1968, by way of an introduction to the British-style cryptic puzzle he briefly constructed for New York magazine. One kind, the conventional American crossword, he termed a ...

You may have heard of the “10,000-hour rule”, the belief that it takes thousands of hours of intense practice to become an expert in something. Training and practice are clearly vitally important in many highly competitive areas such as sports, music ...

It turns out that “parts” is not a noun at all, but a verb, meaning splits. “Iron” often means the letters FE, its chemical symbol. And “covered” is also being used here as a verb, rather than an adjective; “covered in dirt” is INTERRED.