Program Cracks Crosswords

A new program solves crosswords using similar techniques to those used by Eric Brill et al at Microsoft Research to answer questions:

It's a boon for puzzle addicts and a small leap forward for artificial intelligence: a computer program that can solve crosswords in any language.The program, called Web Crow, reads crossword clues, surfs the web for the answers and fits them into the puzzle. Computer engineers Marco Gori and Marco Ernandes at the University of Siena in Italy say a prototype should be available by the end of the year.

http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041004/full/041004-2.html