Software Program Dr.Fill Finally Wins Prestigious Crossword Puzzle Event

Long-time Slashdot reader gregstumph writes:

Dr.Fill, a software program that solves crossword puzzles, finished in first place at the 2021 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, for the first time ever (its previous best was 11th place in 2017). Dr.Fill, created by Matt Ginsberg, has been participating as a non-competitor at the tournament since 2012. This year, Ginsberg made improvements to Dr.Fill with the assistance of a team from the Berkeley NLP Group.

The program finished 'a scant 15 points ahead of Erik Agard on the main block of puzzles 1-7,' Ginsberg posted on Facebook. This was followed by 'then solving the playoff puzzle perfectly in 49 seconds' (while according to Wikipedia the fastest human competitor, Tyler Hinman, took three minutes to solve the puzzle).


The Facebook post adds graciously, 'Total kudos to Erik, the true winner of puzzles 1-7, and to Tyler Hinman, the winner of the event itself.'

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