BARBARIC SORT is a computer sorting algorithm developed by John Cocke in 1971. It is an efficient algorithm for sorting large amounts of data, but it is considered to be a 'brute force' approach as it requires a lot of memory and computing power. The term 'barbaric sort' is derived from the fact that it is a primitive algorithm compared to more modern sorting algorithms. The crossword solution OGRE is a reference to the brute force nature of the algorithm, as ogres are often depicted as being powerful but primitive creatures.